Project NARUTO
by LegendaryMalZ
Summary: The experiment woke up from deep slumber, only to find out that twenty years had passed. The science and magic faction had reached agreement, but not all was well. Naruto knew that much, at least.
1. Chapter 1

_...I can't let this continue to happen..._

A male figure floated inside an experimental tube. Bluish green-colored liquid filled the tube where the figure was floating lifelessly. Numerous amounts of electrodes attached themselves to gain data from every part of his body. The wires sent the information to be analyzed by the super computer nearby. Perhaps, the word "nearby" was not the correct word to use— it took up almost the entire space of the room.

No workers could be found inside the advanced-looking facility. Or, rather, no one knew about the existence of this place. No one would have thought the place was hundreds meters below the surface of the earth.

_...How long has it been... I... must stop them..._

It was kept as a top-class secret project that even the higher-ups did not know of. The ones who knew about the project had either died or had their memories wiped in order to prevent the information being leaked out.

However, it was not like the project had ended up as a failure. If that were the case, everything related to the project would have been eliminated right away. There was no way a project that spent a lot of money and efforts ended up without giving a good result.

_...Has the war stopped already? Is she alright?_

Actually, it was the opposite. The project ended up as a great success. The scientists that were taken part in this project had celebrated their success once they confirmed it. They made their names known all over the world. It was as if their dream comes true.

_...I... must... find... out..._

A success, no matter how great the changes it could bring out for the world, did not always bring good results. This project was considered one of those that did not end as planned. The scientists had finally decided to shut down the experiment. Once it stopped, they left the project one by one until no one left.

However, there was one exception.

_...I'm still alive!_

The figure opened his eyes. A pair of orbs that resembled the color of sky would once again see the light of days. It was the same pair of eyes that had seen more deaths than a normal human could even imagine. It was same pair of eyes that were forced to be closed with the intention never to be opened again.

The index finger twitched, followed by the middle finger, and the rest of his fingers. Those were the fingers that once were covered in blood. Those were the fingers that had taken countless human lives without feeling a slightest hint of remorse.

The glass tube that once contained the deepest secret of AcademyCity shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces for unknown reason. However, such a thing was not a surprising thing in this city of espers. Within 2.3 million populations in this city, 80% of them were students. However, most of the students were called espers, a human with psychokinetic power.

The espers were classified into different levels due to their abilities. A level 0, for example, was the weakest esper whose power had so little use or no uses at all. On the other hand, those at level 5 were considered the strongest. At this moment, there were only seven known level 5s in AcademyCity.

...

The figure stood in the middle of the lab. He looked at his surroundings only to find the super computer, which cost billions, had been reduced into wreckage.

As he gathered his fragmented memories, the figure muttered a phrase.

"...I wonder what year is it now."

* * *

It was early in the morning.

The calendar showed it was August 5th. From the date, one could easily say it was summer break. Most of the students spent their holiday by going on summer vacation with their friends or parents. Some of them were enjoying themselves with their hobbies, while the rest did anything else they had in mind.

However, there were exceptions.

Students who had failed their exam did not get the free-from-school ticket called a holiday. They had to attend extra lessons in order to catch up with the academy's standard. One of these unfortunate students was Kamijou Touma.

At this moment, Kamijou Touma was sitting on his bed, watching morning news on the TV. He was an academy city level 0 esper who was well known in his school for his misfortune.

And today was not an exception.

"...Touma! Touma! We have a problem!"

A girlish voice entered Kamijou's ears. He did not look for the source. Kamijou knew it very well. It was the young, silver-haired and green-eyed girl who was dressed in white nun habit with gold embroidery. Her name was Index Librorum Prohibitorum. However, since that name was too long and sounded fake, everyone just called her Index.

"What is it now, Index? Did you eat up all the food I've prepared and still wanna ask for more?"

Upon hearing Kamijou's question, the young girl named Index suddenly stopped. She looked at the spiky-haired boy in front of her and spoke with small voice.

"Um, that too, but the trouble is—"

The sound of something snapping filled the room. It was Kamijou, who had lost his cool and shouted on Index.

"What!? I've prepared both lunch and dinner for us and you ate them all!?"

Kamijou could not believe it. This nun-girl with monstrous amount of appetite really got into his nerves. He did not even know who she was, other than her name and the fact that she lived in the same place with him. Simply put, Kamijou Touma had lost his memory after a certain incident happened to him eight days ago.

"Uu...Touma becomes so cold nowadays."

"Stop talking as if I'm the one at fault here! Ahh, stop giving me that look. I'm not abandoning you so you'd better stop acting like that." Kamijou put both of his hands on his head and shouted in exasperation. However, the girl still looked at Kamijou as if she was on the verge of crying.

"..."

Getting stared at like that by the petite nun, Kamijou's resolve wavered. He could not stay angry with her any longer than this. He had not forgiven her for eating his lunch and dinner, though.

"Fine... Fine! Let's change the topic. What's the problem you're talking about just now?"

The girl did not answer Kamijou's question right away. Instead, she pulled his arm and dragged him all the way to the veranda. Once they got there, Kamijou spotted someone else. The figure was lying face down on his balcony. He wasn't sure if the person was actually dead or alive.

Kamijou shuddered. He felt as if he was experiencing déjà vu. He had no memories of events prior to July 28th, so he did not know that his past self had experienced the very same situation like he did right now.

Kamijou looked at the figure closely. The person was actually a boy of his age, around 15 or 16. He wore a black and orange jacket over his white, sleeveless shirt. He also had short, spiky blond hair which was a complete mess. However, despite having such hair color, the boy did not look like a foreigner. Kamijou saw that the person had common Japanese face and his bodily figure was that of Japanese people as well.

"What we have to do, Touma?"

Kamijou could not answer Index's question immediately. He needed to confirm if the boy was alive or not first. With that thought in mind, he knelt down beside the person and checked his pulse and breathing.

"He's still alive, only unconscious. I'll bring him to the hospital."

On hearing Kamijou's words, Index shook her head. She pointed at the blond boy's body and said with a concerned tone, "That person is not hurt, Touma. I think he's just hungry."

He blinked, thinking whether he should take Index's strange suggestion into consideration or not. While doing so, the figure suddenly opened his eyes. As he tried to get up from his current position, the blond boy spoke.

"...What year is it now?"

Was that really a question one should ask when facing such a troublesome situation? Kamijou could not help but ask himself. He then tried to force a smile and answered the strange person's question. However, once he told him what year was it now, the figure's reply was,

"...twenty years..."

The person had a strange expression on his face. Kamijou did not know who this person was, but he felt worried. He thought he should ignore Index's words and bring the person to the hospital right away. This boy did not seem well. The fact that the stranger just asked a weird question about what year was now, and muttered something like 20 years afterwards, only made Kamijou feel more worried about his sanity. Maybe a mental hospital would be better instead of a normal one?

Somehow, the person had ended up on his veranda. Kamijou could not stop thinking as to how the person reached here at the first place. It was really strange because Kamijou's room was actually on the 7th floor of boys' dorm.

"Are you alright? I can bring you to the nearest hospital if you feel unwell," Kamijou asked the blond boy in a concerned tone.

The boy looked at Kamijou as if analyzing him. He got up, patted his orange-colored pants few times, then smiled.

"Ah, I'm sorry. It seems I just give you a trouble so early in the morning," the teenager said in quite a polite manner before continuing. "I'm actually alright, don't worry. I must have passed out after using my power."

Kamijou was not surprised at hearing the boy say "power". He had thought about that possibility himself. There was no way someone could land on the 7th floor without having some kind of power.

"Oh, I see. So you're an esper, huh? That explains a lot," Kamijou muttered, leading the boy and Index to come into his room. After all, it was kind of strange to have a conversation on his small veranda.

Once they got in, Kamijou apologized to his guest, "I'm sorry, but we haven't introduced ourselves properly. My name is Kamijou Touma and this is Index."

The boy nodded his head. He was about to say something to Kamijou but stopped before a word came from his mouth. His facial expression got darkened as if he was recalling something bad from his past.

Index was the one who noticed this first. "Have you, by any chances, lost your memories?"

A certain black-haired boy gasped on hearing the white nun's question. It was Kamijou. He faked it out as a cough and hope that Index would not find out. He had no intention to let the girl know that he lost his memory. The girl seemed to trust him very much— no, it was his past self whom Index was fond of. However, Kamijou did not want to destroy the girl's happiness if he told her about his memory loss.

The boy in question shook his head. He let out a warm smile as he spoke, "I'm sorry, it's not that. I just have something else in mind right now." He paused for a moment before continuing, "My name is N-A-R-U-T-O."

Index was confused while Kamijou decided to ask, "So it's Naruto, huh? It's kind of strange you have to spell it out like that. I feel as if there's a hidden meaning behind your name."

Naruto chuckled as he heard Kamijou's remarks. He was not saying his name like that because he wanted to be funny or anything. He had a completely different reason for that. However, he could not tell Kamijou and Index about it. Maybe it was better if they did not know about it; they might be in danger if they know it.

"It actually does, but you don't have to worry about it. It's not something important."

Kamijou still felt the boy in front of him was hiding a secret but he did not want to pry into someone's privacy. He chose to drop the topic for now and ask another question, "So, Naruto, since you're an esper, which school are you attending?"

Naruto could not give an immediate answer. He had rough idea about what an esper was. It must be someone with a psychic power. However, he did not know that an esper must attend a school. Twenty years ago, he woke up in the middle of a war. He had no time to pay attention about school and such. Everyone was fighting to protect their land from enemies' attack at that time.

"...I didn't attend any school."

Kamijou stared at the boy in front of him with envious eyes. How could someone become that lucky as to not having to attend school? He would give up everything to switch position with this Naruto guy. Well, on second thought, that was not true because Kamijou knew it would never happen to him. With his misfortune, he would end up having more trouble than not if he somehow got the opportunity to switch position with the guy in front of him.

He did not know how true that thought of him was.

As he thought about it, Kamijou's glance landed on the round clock hanging on his wall. His eyes widened significantly.

"Oh crap! I'm late! I'm late!" Kamijou shouted frantically as he ran all across the room to find some books and literature. He then shouted, "Index, you're in charge, don't destroy anything! I'll be back after Komoe-sensei done with her additional lesson today."

Just like that, Kamijou left the nun dressed in white and the blond boy.

* * *

It was afternoon already. The sun emitted a golden light and was almost below the horizon.

Under the pleasant atmosphere, a black-haired boy ran at high speed. It was not because some delinquents chose to play hide-and-seek game with him. It was also not because he ran away from an evil organization after discovering their secret plan.

Kamijou was rushing toward his house for a completely different reason.

Since the moment he left his house that morning, Kamijou could not concentrate. Something distracted his mind and made him feel worried. Komoe-sensei's teachings today were all but forgotten.

Finally, Kamijou reached the boys' dorm. He rushed his way toward a certain room in 7th floor.

He made a lot of noise as he came to the entrance of his dorm.

...!

Naruto and Index jerked their heads in surprise. The front door had forcibly opened by a black-haired boy. It was the owner of the room they were residing in. It seemed the boy had finished his extra lessons and immediately rushed home for a reason they did not know.

However, Kamijou's reason was rather simple. He had left Index with a stranger at his house! How could he make such a stupid action like that? Index was a 13 to 14 years old girl who lacked common sense and had no self-awareness.

"You! Why are you still here!? What have you done to Index!?"

On hearing Kamijou's tone, two different reactions came from Naruto and Index. The boy understood the situation very well. He knew what was going on and how to react accordingly. However, he wanted to amuse himself, and possibly Index too, by seeing Kamijou's reaction when he pranked him. Needless to say, the girl was tilting her head with questioning expression on her face.

Naruto grinned at Kamijou and asked with a playful tone, "What is it, Kamijou? I'm only here because Index seems lonely when you left her this morning, so I took the initiative to console her by doing this and that. I don't have to explain it in details right? All you have to know that we are having fun today. Isn't that right, Index?"

Kamijou widened his eyes in surprise. A horrified expression appeared on his face. He shifted his glance toward Index as if trying to ask her whether Naruto's statement was true or not.

"What's wrong with your face, Touma? Don't worry, I have fun with Naruto today. Since it feels _sooo_ good, I asked Naruto to do it again and again. In the end, I couldn't hold myself and fell asleep until just now. I hope I can do that kind of thing with Touma someday but I doubt it would feel as good as today with Naruto," Index said that with a cheerful tone. Her face was filled with joy and she seemed so happy recalling the event she participated in with Naruto.

Kamijou felt mortified. His jaw was wide open. What kind of horrible things had happened when he left Index this morning? And the source of this problem was here, right in front of him, smiling widely.

"What!? You bastard! How can you do that kind of thing with a pure girl like Index? I won't forgive you, and I'll beat you into pulp now! You can consider yourself lucky if you can get out of here alive!"

Kamijou leaped forward to take his words into action. He would not hesitate to pull his fist as long as there was a good reason to do so. And hearing Index's words was enough to make blood rush to his head and change his face's color into red for more than one reason.

As Touma pulled his fist back and was about to slam it into the blond's face, he stopped. He could not move his hand much farther.

It was not because Naruto blocked his attack or used his esper power to stop Kamijou. It was Index, who had stepped in and stood between the two boys. She had an angry expression on her face. It was an expression Kamijou had never seen before.

"Stop, Touma! What are you doing!? I won't allow you to hurt Naruto! He is my friend!"

Kamijou tried to make a rebuttal. He could not let this thing slip out just because Index stand in his way.

"But he is a bad person, Index! I'm sorry; it was because of me he did horrible things to you. Maybe you don't understand what about it was bad, but it was. That kind of thing wasn't something you can do with a stranger, Index."

"…?"

While Index was having a questioning look on her face, Naruto decided it was enough. It was the time to stop this prank and move into something else.

Naruto chuckled, Kamijou's reaction was amusing for him, who had been "sleeping" for twenty whole years. "I didn't do those kind of thing with Index, Kamijou. It was a prank."

Kamijou was surprised. If he think about it again, it was actually unknown what Naruto had done with Index in the first place. It was only his assumption that made things go down that road just now.

"You... didn't? What exactly did you do with Index, then?"

Naruto chuckled as he saw Kamijou's face. The black-haired level 0 esper had an expression of disbelief. "I just brought her around the city, sightseeing."

"Touma, why did you never bring me to see those amazing places before? I have so much fun with Naruto there, especially at the amusement park and the underground shopping district. I bought lots of food there."

Kamijou realized what happened. It was true that he had never walked around the city while bringing Index along. The first reason was because he had been hospitalized for a few days since July 28th. The frog-faced doctor who was in charge treating his injury just let him go home five days ago. Aside from that reason, there was another fact that Kamijou had to attend the extra classes held by Komoe-sensei. Almost all the extra lessons ended up pretty late, making Kamijou unable to have free time. He had planned to bring her out on the weekend, but still. He had better not be making any more excuses.

"I... I'm sorry." Kamijou lowered his head to apologize. He thought of himself as a fool who acts before thinking. However, a sudden realization hit him. It was Index's words just now that intrigued him.

"Wait, Index, did you just say 'you' bought a lot of food?" Index nodded her head excitedly. Her green eyes were shining, as if saying she wanted more of them. "You? Not Naruto? How the hell you could buy food on your own?"

"...Touma left his wallet this morning."

...!

Kamijou widened his eyes in surprise. He checked his pocket and noticed that his wallet was not there. He then looked at the nearby table and saw it lying there. He took the wallet and opened it. Needless to say, it was empty.

"Index-san, you spent all of Kamijou-san's money to buy food, although I'm sure I still had more than 5,000 yen before I left!? Kamijou asked Index in a dangerous tone while showing her the now-empty wallet.

"Uu... Touma is angry," Index muttered in a low voice while hiding herself behind Naruto, afraid of Kamijou's death-glare.

"How could I not!? It was supposed to last until next week and you spent all of it!" Kamijou yelled and began chasing Index around the room, breaking some glasses and put things into disorder during the process.

Long story short, Naruto decided it was pretty late already for him, a stranger to Kamijou and Index, to stay any longer so he excused himself from the dorm. He promised that he would come again later but did not say exactly when. It seemed that Index was looking forward for Naruto's next visit— no, she was waiting for the next time she could go out with him and eat those delicious foods again. After all, aside from the 103,000 grimoire that she had memorized due to her perfect memory, all she had in her head was food.

* * *

The full moon shone brightly. Numerous amount of stars sparkled, as if trying to show off their beauty to the world.

Under the magnificent sky created by nature, a figure walked along a dark, narrow alley in AcademyCity. His black and orange jacket fluttered behind him as he walked. It was Naruto, the boy who had just left Kamijou and Index without telling them where he lived. To be honest, he too did not know where he would spend the rest of the night, so he ended up wandering around the city, which had changed a lot over these past twenty years. As he walked with a steady pace, Naruto thought about various things.

When he brought Index all around the city today, Naruto asked her many questions. The girl amazed him by explaining things that happened long before she was born. It felt more amazing to him because she gave him very detailed information. He felt like reading a book in library.

He learned from Index that the war had ended twenty years ago. Neither the science nor magic faction won the battle. For now, the two sides were currently on "understanding" terms with each other. This condition seemed to be able to maintain peace for the last twenty years.

Naruto also asked Index about a certain organization in England called Necessarius. However, he did not get any information about it from Index. It seemed the nun was reluctant to say anything about it so Naruto chose to drop the topic. Although he was sure that Index hid something important, he did not pry any further.

"Well, well, look what we get here." A gruff voice entered Naruto's hearing.

However, the boy ignored the delinquent who said that to him. Naruto kept walking as if he had never heard anything just now. He paid no attention about the delinquent's comrades either. There were only five of them and although they brought weapons with them, they posed no threat to him.

"Hey! We are proud members of Skill Out! Do you think you can get away from here alive after ignoring us like that!?

"Huh? Never heard anything about that," Naruto gave an honest answer. However, being honest could sometimes bring disaster, too. A perfect example for the statement was this situation Naruto got himself in. Naruto's answer did not sit well with the delinquents. They became angry, hearing his words just now. It was as if the boy deliberately mocked their organization.

"Just die already!" one of them yelled furiously and took out a handgun from his jacket.

Since he was only six meters away from Naruto, he was sure he would not miss the shot. He aimed the black metal weapon to Naruto's head and pressed the trigger.

"Aghh!"

It was not Naruto who screamed in pain. It was one of the delinquents who was going to kill him. As for Naruto himself, he had not moved a single step from his location. He looked at the group of surprised delinquents with a cold stare.

"...Get out of my sight."

His words sent a chill down their spine. They swallowed down their saliva to moisten their dry throats, but it had no effect.

"Don't be afraid, he's only one person. Where is your pride!? Kill him now! After that, we'll kill his family, his lover, his friends, everyone that's related to him!"

Hearing their leader's command, they overcame their fear of Naruto and took out various weapons of their choices: a gun, a sword, a mace, a knife, and a metal pipe. They decided to fight him despite getting a chance to escape. With a single word from the leader, all of them attacked Naruto.

"I've given you a chance to escape before, but you let that chance go and even provoke me with your words just now..." Naruto continued his previous activity. He walked with a steady pace through the dark alley. He was heading toward the border of AcademyCity.

Behind him, the five delinquents, including their leader, were nowhere to be seen. In their place, piles of scorching hot ashes lied innocently on the ground. If it were taken to a scientific lab, the scientist there would probably able to tell what it was. Rather, he would be stuck explaining how a human body could turn into ashes in the first place.

* * *

After walking for a while, Naruto finally reached his destination.

He stood before a large gate that connected AcademyCity to the outside world. However, he did not take a step farther. It was not because there was a city guard who prohibited him to do so. It was also not because he was afraid of something.

It was because a different reason.

"Damn it... I thought they had removed _it _after twenty years passed," Naruto muttered under his breath. However, his tone was that of annoyance.

He had a hard expression on his face. His blue orbs glanced toward the sky. He was thinking about visiting someone from his past. He did not know if that person was still alive or not. What he did know, though, was that he really wanted to meet that person.

However, that person was not in AcademyCity. In fact, that person was not in Japan either. The person Naruto wanted to meet so badly lived on another side of the earth.

It had been twenty years, but Naruto still remembered that face very well. He could imagine the warm smile that person was always giving him. He could still remember the warmth of that person's embrace.

Thinking about it brought a smile onto his face.

"I wonder how she looks now." Naruto let out a chuckle as he walked away from the gate.

At first, he was trying to find what purpose of this "new" life he had. He was considered to be dead twenty years ago but yet, he was here, wandering around the city with no real destination.

He was lucky he met Kamijou and Index that morning. It was also fortunate that the level 0 esper and the library-girl were good people. If they were bad people, maybe they would have died at his hand by now.

It was not like Naruto was good person himself. It was actually the opposite. The blond boy had killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people before. He had done it without feeling a slightest hint of regret or sadness. If he had to, he could do the same thing right here, right now.

However, there was no reason for him to do that now.

The world was at peace now. At least, Index said it was under "understanding" terms. There was no need to be afraid of anything now. A war would not happen any time soon.

If that was the case, then maybe, just maybe, he could live a new life as a good person. He wanted to try what that person had taught him twenty years ago. He wanted to show her he could change from the cold-blooded monster he was before.

Still, he did not feel pity for those delinquents he killed a while ago. There were still people in this world that deserved death.

If it was necessary, Naruto would not hesitate to kill.

Naruto thought about his current situation. He had neither a house nor relatives. There were only two people he knew but he did not want to give them trouble.

At his moment, the blond boy could do nothing but let out a sigh.

"I need to find more information about this city."

With that thought in mind, he walked alone through the darkness of the night.

No one knew how his life would turn from now on.

Only time would tell.

* * *

**End of chapter.**

**This chapter has been beta read by: Mon Esprit Libre**

**Disclaimer: Naruto and Toaru Majutsu no Index are belong to their respective owners. All the copyrights associated with these two are belong to them. Only the ideas contained within this story are the property of the author. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.**


	2. Chapter 2

The date was August 8th, and it was a considerably hot summer afternoon.

Under the hot atmosphere, normal people in Academy City walked around doing their activities. There were some students who chatted and laughed together with their friends. There were also young mothers who bought ice cream for their child to prevent them from getting heatstroke.

However, a lone figure ignored them all. He walked along the central part of the city at a slow pace. To his side, there were countless stores selling anything from the usual daily needs to extreme sports equipment.

It was Naruto, the blond boy who had just started a new life a while ago. At this moment, he was having an inner thought:

What should he do?

It had been three days since he woke up from his deep slumber. He had planned to find some information about this city. However, after three days gathering information around the city, he could only get basic knowledge.

Naruto knew this place was called Academy City. This city, with a 2.3 million population, was considered as the most advance city in the world. It was said to have the technology of 20-30 years farther than any other place on earth. That fact alone was enough to make one become amazed of the city.

Other than its advanced technology, Naruto also learned that this city was developing esper power. In his opinion, it was both good and bad thing to do. After all, the espers were human. One could not deny the fact that humans were creatures that could think for themselves, unlike those robots which were scattered all around the city.

Since there were good and bad people in human society— although the line between the two was vague— it would be safe to say that there were also good and bad espers. It was actually a good conclusion which proved to be true. However, there was a way to take care of it. As long as the Academy City could maintain the balance between these two sides, everything should be alright.

Well, Naruto did not know which side he should be put in. Could he, someone who had ended thousands of lives, considered a good person? Absolutely not!

He was a bad person. Other than those five delinquents that he killed three days ago, Naruto had encountered some more delinquents who said they were from the same organization as them: Skill Out. Needless to say, Naruto did the same to them. He gave them a chance to escape first, but none of them heard his words. The result was obvious. They made the wrong decision. In simple terms, all of them had turned into ashes.

Skill Out, an organization exclusively made for level 0 espers. They had a leader who moved behind the scene. His name was Komaba Ritoku. However, despite having a leader, it was said that the members usually moved on their own. It was also thought that the organization had no real purpose behind them. It was only a gathering place of delinquents and lowlife people who did not hesitate to do dirty jobs for life.

Naruto sighed.

Twenty years had passed since that day. Could he start a new life as a good person now that everything had changed? Could he fulfill that person's wish for him to change from a cold-blooded monster into a completely different person? He did not know the answer. Even if he tried to change, he was sure it would not be an easy task for him to do.

As he thought about that, Naruto suddenly stopped.

Right before him was a short-haired girl. She wore light-brown sweater over a white blouse and a grey skirt. The girl had chestnut-brown hair that fell on her shoulder. However, that was not the problem. At this moment, she was standing in front of a vending machine, obstructing his way.

After doing research for three days straight, Naruto noticed the girl's uniform right away. He was sure the girl in front of him was from Tokiwadai Middle School, an elite, girls-only school. It was also said that the school's regulation only allowed those level 3 and above to join the school. There was also a rumor that said the school had rejected a daughter of the richest family in the city because of those strict rules.

That also was not what intrigued him.

The girl did not do what normal people did in front of vending machine. Instead of putting a bill into the machine to get canned drinks, the girl stared at it with serious eyes. She cracked her neck twice, then jumped a few times like a boxer before having a match.

The next instant, with a graceful spin of her body, the girl kicked the vending machine with full force.

_Clang!_

An apple juice can came out of the vending machine.

"Why are you staring at me like that, huh?" the girl asked as she took the apple juice from its place.

Naruto could only stare at the girl in disbelief. His jaw was opened slightly. Was there really such a convenient method to get a free drink like that?

However, he quickly shook his head in order to get hold of himself again. Once he had done so, Naruto addressed the girl before him. "I thought Tokiwadai Middle School's students are high-class girls who'd never do something like that, but it seems I was wrong."

"W-what are you saying?! it's not like I do this kind of thing everyday!"

As the girl tried to defend herself— although, she failed failed badly because it did not feel convincing at all— she let out a spark of electricity around her body.

_Oohh, an esper; and with such an interesting personality, too. I wonder how she'd react after this._

"Hmm, your word doesn't sound convincing at all," Naruto said before continuing. "Since you've no problem doing something like that, I'm sure you often did other similar things as well. Hmm, let's say... shoplifting."

Another spark of electricity came from the girl. This time, it was bigger and with higher voltage than before. It was enough to scare normal people and make them run to save their dear life. However, Naruto could not classify as a normal person. He was not afraid of the girl at all. He was looking at her with serious eyes.

"W-What!? I would never—"

"Really? Then why is your face becoming so red?" Naruto interrupted her before she could finish her words. He then continued with a final blow, "Are you feeling embarrassed because I just discovered your secret hobby? Don't worry, little girl, I won't tell it to everyone."

Naruto did not know who he was talking to. Maybe, if he had more time to gather information about the city, he would have known who the girl was.

In fact, the girl who was glaring at him, despite looking like how she did, was one of the seven level 5 espers in Academy City. As one could see from those sparks of lightning she let out before, her field of expertise was anything related with electricity. Additionally, she was the third strongest esper: the Ace of Tokiwadai, the Railgun.

"I didn't do that! And don't you ever call me, Misaka Mikoto, little girl!"

* * *

Such misfortune.

It truly was an unfortunate day for one Kamijou Touma. He just went back from a bookshop where he spent 3,600 yen to buy a literature book. To make it worse, the book was actually sold with 50% discount from the start of summer break until it ended yesterday.

However, this was the essence of Kamijou's every day's life. He was the most popular level 0 esper in his school. He would be the happiest boy if his popularity was due to having good looks or a rare power to show off.

Unfortunately for him, that was not the reason. He was popular simply because his friends felt that with him around, he would absorb their bad luck like a lightning rod.

"Touma!" A familiar call entered Kamijou's ears.

It was Index, the girl who lived with Kamijou. She had waist-length silver hair, skin as white as snow and emerald green eyes. From her look, one could tell that she was foreign. And today, too, she wore her usual white nun habit that was colored white with gold embroidery.

"...Don't say anything to me now."

The girl stared unhappily at Kamijou after being told that. She seemed ignorant of Kamijou's current state of thought. She did not know that Kamijou was still feeling sad after spending such a huge amount of money to buy a book. He did not even know if he would actually read it, either, since a lot of the books he had to buy he ended up not even using.

"Hmph. Unlike Naruto, Touma is as cold as always," Index said with a pout. Her eyes, however, were looking elsewhere.

For Index and Kamijou, it had been three days since the day of their meeting with Naruto. The blond had told them that he would come to visit them again but he did not tell them when. Until now, they had not heard anything from the boy. It was also bad that they did not know where he lived. Kamijou did not even know if Naruto had a phone number he could be contacted at.

Even though they had only known the boy for a short amount of time, Naruto had left different impressions on them. For Kamijou, the black-haired boy still held a little bit of a grudge after being pranked. He would have to pay him back for that one day. On the other hand, a different reaction came from Index. The petite nun seemed to be fond of him.

Maybe it was only because he brought her around the city and bought some food for her using Kamijou's money. _Yes, it must be that_, Kamijou thought.

"Touma... Isn't that Naruto?"

Hearing Index's question, Kamijou followed her gaze, noticing what Index said was true. He could see the same boy who had strangely landed on his veranda, unconscious. Kamijou still did not know what kind of power that Naruto had. However, that was not really important.

"Let's go meet him, Index," Kamijou said that to Index before stopping. There was something strange with the petite nun's expression. "Hey, hey! Why your eyes are shining like that!? Don't say you're planning to buy more food together with Naruto using this Kamijou-san's money."

Index seemed oblivious to his words. Her mind was wandering elsewhere. It was true that the girl held the knowledge of 103,000 grimoire in her head, but aside from that, all she had in her mind were food, delicious food, and more delicious food.

Since the distance was not far, Index and Kamijou quickly reached Naruto's place.

When they saw it from close distance, Index and Kamijou noticed that Naruto was not alone. He was talking with a short-haired girl they had not met before— no, he seemed to be having an argument with the girl.

"—don't you ever call me, Misaka Mikoto, little girl!" they heard the girl yell at Naruto. Her face was red but it was not due to embarrassment; it was anger. Too bad for her, since the boy ignored her and looked elsewhere. To be precise, Naruto was looking at Index and Kamijou. He casually waved his hand and left the short-haired girl, who was fuming.

"Hello, Index, Kamijou," Naruto greeted the two before asking the silver-haired nun, "Why is your face red too, Index? Is this some kind of event that involve red-faced girls around the city? I haven't heard anything about it yet," Naruto asked despite knowing there was no such day.

"Uu... It's because Touma doesn't want to buy me a drink."

"What!? You never told me that you're so thirsty and about to catch heatstroke. How am I supposed to know that?" Kamijou yelled.

It seemed that Naruto, Index, and Kamijou forgot there was another person there. Misaka Mikoto, who disliked being ignored like she was being, spoke up with dangerous tone.

"YOU!" Mikoto pointed her index finger toward Kamijou. Her expression showed anger, but Kamijou could not interpret why, so Kamijou could do nothing but tilt his head in confusion. He tried to recall who was this girl but failed to do so.

"Huh? Who are you?"

Kamijou did not have any idea as to who this short-haired girl was. He had thought that she was one of Naruto's friends, but he never thought that the girl was actually his acquaintance, too. The reason behind this was most likely because Kamijou had lost his memories after a certain incident that happened at July 28th.

Upon hearing Kamijou's question, Mikoto's eyes widened. She could not believe it. How could this boy forgot her name that easily? And she just yelled her name to the annoying blond boy, too, just now. Unacceptable.

Mikoto decided to reintroduce her lightning spear to Kamijou. She had heard something like shock therapy could help people to remember something they forgot. With that thought in mind, she sent out a high-pressured electric spear toward Kamijou without hesitation.

_...!?_

Kamijou widened his eyes. The spear of lightning was moving his way with high-speed. He did not even get the time to think this event was just another misfortune of his daily life.

How could a mere level 0 esper like him supposed to block such an attack?

In such a moment of desperation, Kamijou's right hand raised itself out of reflex. He felt as if his body knew what had to be done in this kind of situation. Kamijou did not know the reason, but the girl's attack had disappeared the moment it touched his right hand.

Kamijou let out a sigh of relief. He stared at his right hand which just negated a lightning attack. If that attack were to strike his body, he was not sure he could survive. In other words, he was a step away from hell-gate just now.

Imagine Breaker. It was then name of the power resided in Kamijou's right hand. He could negate all kind of supernatural attacks once he touched them with his right hand. No matter how good his power sounded like, there was always a downside for it. For example, Kamijou could not negate physical attacks with his right hand. Once his enemy chose not to rely on spiritual powers, Kamijou was more or less done for.

Meanwhile, the strongest electric user, Misaka Mikoto, was getting angrier at Kamijou. She pointed her index finger at him and yelled, "Stop acting like that! Just because you managed to defeat a level 5 like me you have no right to look down at me! And also, you should at least remember my name! Have some responsibility, won't you?"

Naruto could not resist himself to also make his thoughts into words after hearing what Mikoto had just said. With a surprised tone, Naruto asked Kamijou, "Hey, Kamijou, did the little missy over here just ask you to take responsibility? I never thought you're the type that would do something indecent to someone as young as her."

However, those words of him proved to be a drawback of his plan amusing himself.

Together with Kamijou, who paid no attention to his words, Naruto felt the air temperature around him dropped significantly. Although it sounded like a nice thing to have in the middle of hot summer day, it was actually not.

The reason was Index and Mikoto. Both of them had similar looks on their faces, and a scary one at that. Killing intent leaked out from the two girls as they took a step forward in unison.

"Touma," Index growled, "it's really like Naruto said, isn't it?"

"First, you call me little girl, and now little missy? It seems words can't reach you so I have to use different method to make you understand not to call one Misaka Mikoto that!"

Naruto and Kamijou swallowed down their saliva. They were currently in a bad situation which they did not know why things suddenly turned to be like this.

"W-wait Index-san, this is only a misunderstanding." Kamijou took another step backward. "Why you bare your teeth like that? You won't bite this Kamijou-san's head like you always did when you're angry, right?" he desperately asked but got no answer from the girl. "S-stop growling like that, Index, it's scary! Damn it, Naruto, this is your fault! Say something!"

"Stop complaining! You're facing a kind-hearted nun who is only a little angry there!" Naruto yelled as he moved his body aside to avoid a bolt of lightning that flew toward him. "Ow, that was close! Can't you see that I'm— hey, watch where you're aiming!— facing an angry little devil who is shooting lighting attacks non-stop!?"

* * *

In the end, they stopped fighting and compromised. Shortly afterward, they agreed to buy shakes from a cheap fast food restaurant nearby. However, Misaka Mikoto did not come with them. She said she had some errands to do and her friend was waiting for her somewhere.

The restaurant they were in, although it was not a prestigious one, was quite large compared to other normal restaurants in this area. A lot of people, mostly students, came here today. Their reason was simple: the temperature was too hot outside. Since the restaurant had air conditioning system, it was now crammed with people.

_..._

Holding the tray with both hands, Index looked unhappy and remained silent. There were three shakes on the tray: one vanilla, one chocolate, and one strawberry. Of course, Kamijou was the one who bought them for her. Although he was crying anime tears inwardly, Kamijou dared not to complain out of fear that his life would be at risk. Again.

_Such misfortune_, he thought.

"...Touma, I really want to sit down," said Index in an emotionless tone.

Kamijou widened his eyes upon hearing the nun's words. Her expression conveyed him that if he did not do as she said, Index would leap and bite his head.

"AFFIRMATIVE!" Kamijou shouted, drawing lot of attention from other customers but he paid no attention to them. He would rather being stared by dozens pair of eyes than make the nun get angry at him again.

After a quick search, Kamijou found a place to sit. It was the only table left that had not been occupied by other customers. It was placed in the corner of the restaurant, but that place was not really empty.

Over there, on that table, sat a sleeping miko. Her shiny black hair was scattered, covering her face.

Upon seeing the girl, Kamijou's misfortune radar warned him. _Don't get involved with that miko, you'll definitely meet misfortune! And it won't be something that could be solved by a simple memory loss._

Kamijou Touma closed his eyes and made his decision. He would rather face Index's anger than getting involved with the sleeping miko. However, Kamijou was really an unlucky person. Just in the nick of time while he was closing his eyes to make a decision, Naruto and Index had disappeared from their previous location.

As expected, they were sitting on the same table with the mysterious miko.

Kamijou really wanted to mutter his trademark catchphrase but he could not. The reason was Index. The foreign nun who had some strawberry shake in her mouth, waved at him happily. Although he did not want to get involved with that miko, Kamijou could not resist smiling back at the nun. He steeled his heart and carefully approached the table.

That was the moment when the miko's shoulder suddenly jerked. Her mouth moved. Her face was expressionless.

"Spent all my money and ruined myself."

_What the heck!?_

Kamijou wanted to shout that but refrained himself to do so. He looked in Naruto's direction, as if trying to seek some help from him, but it was a bad choice. The blond boy did not even look his way. His chin was resting on his hand and his eyes were looking far away through the window with a dazed expression. He seemed like thinking about something else which Kamijou did not know of.

"What did you mean by spent all your money and ruined yourself?" Index asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

The miko shifted her glance and look at Index's face. She then spoke with the same expressionless tone as before, "Train fare back home: 400 yen."

Kamijou did not understand. The miko answered the question with an irrelevant answer. So he decided to ask her, "What does 400 yen for a train ride have to do with ruining yourself?"

"I only have 300 yen left. I spent all my money to buy hamburgers."

"Just lend her 100 yen, Kamijou," Naruto, who did not seem like paying attention to the conversation, suddenly muttered. He was still looking through the window as if there was something interesting happening on the street.

"That idea's good."

"Why are you staring at me like that!?" Kamijou asked the miko in front of him with a questioning look on his face. He had a bad feeling about this. He continued his words but got interrupted midway through, "Don't tell me you—"

"100 yen please." The miko stared at Kamijou with a pained expression. She then continued, "Will you lend to me?"

"Just lend her 100 yen, Kamijou." Naruto repeated his words before, still in expressionless state.

"No." Kamijou declined the suggestion. Although it was only 100 yen, he had spent a lot of money to buy a literature book and three shakes for Index. He could not lend this strange miko his money.

"So stingy, won't even let me borrow a mere 100 yen." The miko stared at Kamijou and then she continued, "Seems like my time's up."

That was the time when Kamijou realized what she meant with that last statement. They were not alone anymore. There were 20 to 30 people in black suits surrounding their table.

._..!?_ While Kamijou was having a surprised look on his face because he could not grasp the sudden change of situation, one of the men spoke.

"Thank you for taking care of her, we'll take over from here."

Just like that, the miko left the restaurant with them. Since she did not make any resistance, Kamijou thought that the miko knew those men. He hoped he would not have to get involved with that mysterious girl again.

* * *

It was afternoon already.

Naruto, Index, and Kamijou walked home together. It was still unknown to Kamijou and Index as to where Naruto lived, but they did not ask him that. Right now, they were walking through a narrow alley. It was a shortcut that Kamijou often used when got late after having a sleepover.

That was the time when Index's gaze suddenly stopped in a direction away from their destination. She was looking at a three-colored, Japanese calico cat that was purring happily.

"Touma, I want—"

"NO!" Kamijou knew what Index had in her mind. He was 100% sure that Index wanted to take that cat home and make it her pet. He could not let that happen. It was pain already having her at his home as a freeloader, and now he must fed one more freeloader? Obviously not.

"I DON'T CARE! LOOK, IT'S TOUMA'S FAULT SPHINX RAN AWAY!" Index shouted at Kamijou and ran over to chase the cat, which had already gotten a name from Index despite it wasn't her pet yet.

Naruto chuckled then said to Kamijou, "Wait here; I'll go find Index and bring her back. Don't worry."

After Naruto left him to chase Index, Kamijou was alone now. That was what he thought before a voice came from behind.

"It's been a while, Kamijou Touma."

Kamijou spun his body to look at the newcomer. It was a red-haired teenager over two meters tall wearing black priest robes. Though he was a priest, the smell of cologne from him was overwhelming. He wore earrings on his ears, and every one of his fingers bore silver-colored rings.

Although his appearance was like that, the level 0 esper did not really care about it. He was more concerned about the fact that the man just said "it's been a while" to him. Those words were essential taboo for Kamijou Touma.

_Who is this guy?_

Kamijou had lost his memories. The fact that this guy knew his name meant that he was someone from his past. However, Kamijou could not ask the person who he was. It would reveal his hidden secret. Kamijou had kept the truth about his memory loss hidden from everyone. His reasoning was because he did not want Index to felt worried or sad for him. Kamijou did not know what kind of reaction Index would give him once she knew that the Kamijou Touma that she was fond of had already disappeared.

"What do you want?" Kamijou asked while narrowing his eyes. Since the man before him looked like a delinquent, he thought it was a good way to respond to him like that. He was sure by answering like that, he would not reveal his memory loss while still getting the information needed from this man.

"Hmph, not even a 'hello' even though we haven't met for a while? Good, that's how our relationship should be. We can't just act like comrades after working together once before," the red-haired priest spoke earnestly before continuing, "Don't worry about Index, I've used a magic to distract her. It's a good thing that your blond friend followed her so we can talk without being disturbed here."

Kamijou was stunned. The man just said "magic" to him; it was something that should only exist in child's stories. Even though he had lost his memories, he did not lose his knowledge. He knew that magic was not something that could be proved by any science mean. It was such an illogical thing that one should not believe about its existence. However, Kamijou was sure he heard the priest said it correctly. One question appeared on his mind.

Just what kind of world did the Kamijou Touma of the past live in?

To overcome his fear of his past self, Kamijou forced a smile to calm himself. However, it was not a good thing to do.

"Hmph, don't just smile about everything. Are you ready to die?" the priest asked while taking out a card from his pocket. As he swung his hand, the priest's right hand burst out flames and the next instant, a fiery-red sword of flames formed there.

Kamijou widened his eyes. He realized this man was not holding back. If he made a mistake, his life would end here. So he did the only thing he knew could save his dear life. It was fortunate that he met Misaka Mikoto today. After negating the lightning spear from her, Kamijou knew his right hand had the power to negate supernatural attack, so he raised his right hand to protect himself. It was the same instant that the priest sent his attack. The flame sword swung with great force toward Kamijou. The priest swung it without hesitation despite knowing the boy would be reduced into ash if he received that hit directly.

The moment Kamijou's right hand came into contact with the flame sword, it exploded with a loud boom. The hot flames which reached 3,000 degrees scattered around the black-haired boy. Before it vanished, the hellish flame formed a vortex that invaded all nearby.

"Hah... hah..." Kamijou breathed heavily. He did not dare to lower his right hand as he was afraid the man before him would send another attack to him.

But his thought did not come into reality. The priest did not send another sword of flame toward him. In stark contrast, he let out a wicked smile.

"That's the face I want to see. That's how the relationship between Kamijou Touma and Stiyl Magnus should be. Now that you understand that, we can finally move into the real business."

Kamijou really could not understand the man before him. From the way the priest said that last sentence, Kamijou guessed that the attack just now was only a greeting from him! Now Kamijou really feared his past self. He could not imagine what kind of world his past self had lived in. If something like this happened on daily basis, Kamijou was not sure if he could live long enough.

Stiyl took out something from his pocket. This act alone made Kamijou's awareness came back. He thought that Stiyl would take out another rune card to attack him again. It was fortunate that the thing Stiyl took out was not that.

It was a photo.

"Ehwaz," Stiyl said a magical word and flicked the photo with his finger. As if being held by invisible force, it spun like a frisbee and landed on Kamijou's hand.

As he looked at the photo on his hand, Kamijou frowned. It was a photo of a girl he knew. To be more precise, it was the photo of the miko that he had met in a restaurant few hours ago.

"Oh, you know her? Good, this will make things easier to explain," Stiyl said before continuing, "Her name is Himegami Aisa, also known as Deep Blood. You'll come with me tonight to Misawa Cram School. We'll save her from a man named Aureolus Izzard, an alchemist."

"What!?"

"Shut up, we don't have much time left before Index and your friend comes back. I'll explain the mission details later, just prepare yourself for tonight." While Kamijou was confused by the sudden turn of events, Stiyl had already disappeared from his sight after saying that.

Now he knew that his misfortune radar never lied to him. It was 100% accurate. He should have followed its warning about the mysterious miko at the restaurant. Now, it was too late for him to change everything.

Such misfortune.

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto followed the path where Index had left him and Kamijou. It did not take him long time to catch up with her. When he found her, Index was holding the cat with both her arms while it struggled to get out from her.

"Hey, Index, you ran off because you notice it too, right?"

Upon hearing Naruto's question, Index tilted her head. She did not understand what he was talking about. What did he mean by it? He could not possibly know about it, right?

On the other hand, Naruto had noticed Index's confusion. To make it clear for her, he then explained what he meant using a single word only.

"Magic."

_...!_

Index widened her green eyes. Naruto had only said one word to her; it was just a simple word, yet it had contained many meanings behind it. Magic, was not an unusual word to hear nowadays. A lot of fantasy books had been using that term to attract people's interest. However, it was considered non-existent by most people. They thought that magic and everything related with it, could only exist in fairy tales, never in real life.

That perspective was incorrect.

Magic really was existent in this world. However, the people who can use it and the ones that knew its existence kept it hidden from others. It was unnecessary to let all people in the world to know about it. It was better to hide the truth from everyone. If magic were to be known widely, chaos might appear in the world. Children would not want to learn in school anymore, they would prefer to learn magic instead of mathematics, physics, economics, and such. Companies would not hesitate to use magic to make themselves prosper in the future. And also, the worst of it was that it had the probability that "evil" people would use it to harm others.

"How?" Index hesitantly asked. A lot of questions appeared on her mind after she heard that word from Naruto. She wanted to ask a lot of questions. She wanted to know what his relationship with magical world was. She wanted to know if his odd way to introduce himself had any relations to it, but that was the only word came out from her.

Although she was not a magician herself, Index knew how dangerous it was. After all, she was the holder of 103,000 original grimoires inside her head. She did not want to let normal people to get involved with the magical world if she could help it. However, since Naruto had already known about its existence, then it would be alright for her to speak about it with him, right?

"Yes, I asked you about Necessarius back then, didn't I? Why do you think I would ask about the organization if I don't know anything about magic?"

"Uu..." Index nodded her head before muttered with a low voice, "Normally people from this city didn't know about it... Even Touma didn't believe me when I told him that magic really existed for the first time. And I got my clothes stripped when I tried to prove its existence to him."

_...?_

Naruto was confused; he had a questioning look on his face. What was this girl muttering about? He thought. Naruto wanted to ask Index to explain it to him but the nun quickly said:

"Nothing, nothing, nothing. I didn't say anything embarrassing just now, forget it!"

Well, if she did not want to tell him that badly, he could just ask Kamijou later.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and said, "Anyway, Index, why did you run off once you noticed someone used magic around here? Wouldn't it better if you have Kamijou or me accompanying you to check it? In case if something bad happens, you know."

Index nodded her head. What Naruto had told her just now was correct. It would be safer to have someone to check it with her. But she did not want to. She had her own reasons about it.

"I don't know you're familiar with magic, and Touma... I don't want to get him into more trouble because of me." Index's voice trailed off as she spoke the last part. The nun was afraid. She did not want to become a burden to Kamijou. She had gotten the boy involved with magical world since the day she met him. Although it was not directly, she had hurt him. Kamijou had been hospitalized for days because the injuries he received from the battle in order to save her. Index did not want Kamijou to get hurt again. Never again.

Upon hearing Index's words, Naruto let out a weak smile. As he thought, Index was indeed a good girl. Although she did not say it, Naruto knew her reason she came here all by herself. She was so kind that she wanted to protect Kamijou despite the fact that she could not defend herself very well.

In contrast to his smiling face, Naruto clenched his fist. Index's willingness to protect Kamijou, despite having no power, made him realize just how hard it was to be a good person. Naruto was sure Kamijou had the same reason as Index when he risked his life to save her.

It was something that Naruto did not have.

He was someone who possessed an ability no normal human has, though it was not uncommon in this city of espers. However, just how many of them used their power to help others? Naruto was sure there were not many of them. Most of them used their power to gain their personal goals, while the rest just followed orders that were given to them from higher-ups.

Naruto could not help but remember what he had done twenty years ago. He had used his power to kill others. Although it was necessary thing to do because a war was going on, he had done an unforgivable thing.

He enjoyed his killing spree. He loved the feeling of taking other people's life. He always wanted to see more of it. He was a monster.

"...Naruto?" Index's voice woke him up from his reveries. "Let's go back. I'm worried about Touma. I'm afraid the magic was only being used as distraction to lure us here."

Naruto did not say anything to her. He nodded his head and proceed together with Index to the place where they left Kamijou. However, it was not necessary for them to do so.

"Hey Index, Naruto." It seemed the black-haired boy had followed them here. Index did not notice it but Naruto could tell that Kamijou's expression was different from before. He looked like anxious about something. There was a chance that Kamijou was afraid something happened to them because Naruto and Index did not come back immediately after, but Naruto was sure that was not the reason. "Let's go home; I've something to do after this."

Kamijou's last words just proved Naruto's suspicion seemed to be true. However, the blond did not want to ask him about it here. At least, not in front of Index. As they walked together toward Kamijou's place, Naruto was thinking about one thing:

What problem did Kamijou get himself involved in this time?

* * *

**To be continued.**

**A/N: This is the only canon-ish chapter in my story, the rest won't follow anything happened in canon. Press the next button and see yourself :p**

**This chapter has been beta read by: Mon Esprit Libre.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright, I'll go now."

Kamijou said while opening the front door. Several hours had already passed since his meeting with Stiyl. The red-haired magician told him to come to Misawa Cram School tonight. Together with him, he was going to infiltrate the prep school to save a girl whose name was Himegami Aisa. It seemed a magician named Aureolus Izzard kept her there for some reasons.

Kamijou reminded himself to ask the details to Stiyl later. He was willing to at least hear the explanation about that miko's problem. However, if the explanation did not seem to be convincing, Kamijou thought to let Stiyl deal with this problem by himself. After all, he had no obligation to do this seemingly dangerous mission. So why did he come along with this?

"...Where are you going, Touma?"

Kamijou turned his body. He stared at Index who asked him a question while playing with her new pet. Yes, it was the Japanese calico cat which Index brought home this evening. Kamijou told her not to have it as a pet but it was impossible to convince the nun. In the end, Kamijou had to surrender and allow her to have it.

"My friend asked me to come to his place," Kamijou said before continuing, "Don't worry, I promise I'll come back in an hour or two."

The spiky-haired boy sighed. He had just lied to Index. However, he could not tell her the truth. What reaction she would have if Kamijou told her he was going to sneak into a school and save a girl from there? He was sure Index would want to come along with him. That was something Kamijou could not allow. If things unexpectedly became bad, she might get into danger. It would be much safer to leave her here with Naruto instead of letting her come with him.

"Okay, I'll just play with Naruto and Sphinx until you come back."

Index seemed oblivious to the fact that Kamijou did not tell her the truth. However, it was different for Naruto. The blond boy narrowed his eyes. He could tell that Kamijou was hiding something from him and Index. He already had suspicions about it since they came home that evening. More precisely, since he and Index left Kamijou to check the magic that was being used near their location.

"Wait," Naruto said just before Kamijou closed the door. They black-haired boy had almost closed the door but kept it open until Naruto followed him outside. The next moment, Naruto closed the door behind them, leaving Index and the cat inside. He dragged Kamijou a few meters away to make sure the nun would not hear what they were going to say.

"I know you're lying just now," Naruto said, making Kamijou widened his eyes in surprise. "Tell me, what kind of trouble you get yourself into now? It has something to do with someone from the magic world, right?"

Kamijou eyed Naruto as if asking him "how did you know?" but his voice betrayed him. He did not say anything to the blond boy in front of him; he could not. He was confused. How could him, an esper, know something about magic? Kamijou had only figured out about its existence this evening. He had experienced it himself the hard way. Was he the only one who did not know the existence of magic? Kamijou really wanted to blame his memory loss for this matter but could not bring himself to do it.

"Your expression tells me that my suspicion is true," Naruto said casually. He did not seem to be worried about the existence of magical world, the world which could not be explained by any scientific methods. The blond then continued. "It's alright if you can't tell me what you are going to do with whoever you're going to do it with, or your reasons, but... at least, you can tell me where are you heading to, right?"

"Why?"

"Why what? Why did I know about magic world? It was because I have faced a lot of magicians before. Don't ask about it, I don't want to explain it any further." Naruto paused for a moment before continuing. "Why did I want to know where you're heading? It's because I'll go there with Index if you don't come back in two hours, like you promised."

Kamijou sighed. He should have known that he could not lie to this person. He did not know what Naruto's relationship with magical world was, but he would not ask him about it. He saw that Naruto really did not want to say anything about it. Kamijou figured that because Naruto's expression had gotten darker as he told him about not wanting to say anything just a moment before.

"Misawa Cram School," Kamijou reluctantly told Naruto. "I'll go now. Don't do anything strange with Index or I'll kick you for real this time."

The blond smirked on hearing Kamijou's words, "As if you can do that," Naruto taunted. He went back to Kamijou's place while saying, "Don't die; Index will be sad if you do."

"I won't."

Just like that, Kamijou went to Misawa Cram School to meet Stiyl while Naruto entered Kamijou's place once again. Kamijou did not know what awaiting him there, but he did not have a dying wish yet. He would definitely come back alive later. He would never let Index feel sad because of him. He wanted to cherish that smiling face she had, not her crying face. It was enough for him to see Index crying when he woke up at the hospital bed few days ago. He would even hide his memory loss from her forever if it could make her happy like she was now.

* * *

"Where is Touma? Why hasn't he come back?" Index looked at clock hanging on the wall while asking the same questions again and again.

Naruto let out a sigh, "You've asked that question for fifteen times already, Index. Can't you ask something else?"

"But Touma said he'll come back in two hours. I'm worried if something bad will happen to him."

Naruto shifted his glance from the TV to see what time it was. When he saw it, he realized that almost two and a half hours had passed since Kamijou left. It seemed he was too focused with the information given by the news channel. That should be expected, since he had just woken up several days ago. He needed to know a lot of things to catch up with the current issues, trends, technology, and everything else.

"Alright, let's go, Index. We'll go find Kamijou," Naruto said as he turned off the TV. He stood up then walked toward the door. "Why are you giving me that happy look? We're not going to buy some food, Index. The place we're going to visit may contain a potential danger. Actually I'd prefer you to stay here but I know you won't, so we'll go there together."

Index tilted her head. She did not understand as to why Naruto said the place was going to be a dangerous one. Touma said he was going to his friend's place, right? Did Naruto mean that Touma's friend was a dangerous person?

Index did not ask him that. Instead, she followed Naruto obediently like a little child going out with her parent. As long as she could meet the spiky-haired boy, she did not need any further explanations.

After twenty minutes of walking, Naruto and Index arrived at Misawa Cram School. They were currently standing in front of its front gate. Naruto knew this place because he had remembered most, if not all, of Academy City's important places during his "research." Naruto and Index could arrive here faster if they were to take a bus or a train. However, in this city, those public transportation devices were not operating at night. The reason of that strange regulation was unknown for most people in the city. Out of his curiosity, Naruto had guessed that has something to do with security system the city had. Although, he did not know anyone who can prove if his theory was correct or not.

"Touma... is here?" Index asked Naruto in a hesitant voice. She looked at him with a questioning look on her face. It seemed like Index doubted the possibility that her Touma was inside this place.

"Well, yeah, he told me that," Naruto replied to Index's question while looking at the massive building before him.

The place was huge. Although it was called a school, the building in front of Naruto and Index looked more like an office building than a normal school. The school consisted of four buildings with several stories in height, with a skyway built in between, connecting each of them.

However, that was not the reason as to why Index doubted Kamijou was there. She was thinking like that because the school was closed at this hour. There was no way to get in unless they were to secretly sneak in like a thief. In that case, if she truly wanted to meet him, she would have to sneak into the building with Naruto. Could she really do that?

It was not what a normal nun should do. Although, to be honest, Index was still a nun-in-training. She did not really follow those strict rules they had. So she decided to ignore it for this time and entered the building with Naruto. Fortunately, there was no security alarm going off when the two tried to climb the fence to get in.

Once they got inside, Naruto and Index walked side by side. They did not have an idea as to where Kamijou was. The only option they had was to search the entire building or ask someone they met on their way. Though, they should really think twice to make their presence known here. After all, both of them were intruders who snuck into the building without permission.

"Strange," Naruto muttered as he and Index went farther into the building. "The place is so big but we haven't encountered anyone yet."

It was a reasonable thought. Misawa Cram School had slightly more than two thousand students under their wings. Lot of people said this school was one of the top choices of school in AcademyCity. The fact that they could not find anyone inside was hard to believe.

"It's because alchemy is being used here," Index said to Naruto, who tilted his head in confusion. The girl entered her lecturing mode and gave him an explanation. "You probably couldn't notice it because you aren't familiar with it. Actually, alchemy is very similar to magic, but the basic concepts used to perform it are different. I don't know if there is someone who can use it at this time. It was thought to be lost years ago."

Naruto listened Index's explanation seriously. It was a new knowledge for him. He had never heard anything about alchemy until just now. Even his knowledge from twenty years ago did not help him at all. However, since Index told him that alchemy had been considered as a lost magic, he could do nothing but to believe her. Although he had not asked her yet about it, the blond had an inkling that Index knew more than a normal magician does.

"So, can you trace where the user of this alchemy is?" Naruto asked before continuing with a mutter, "I've a feeling that Kamijou has gotten himself involved with this matter."

Index nodded her head as she pointed her index finger to a direction. "The alchemist is in that direction. We'll probably reach there in ten minutes. I hope Touma's alright."

Both of them continued their way together to the direction Index had suggested before. If everything went as they had expected, then soon, they would meet the person they were looking for.

* * *

Meanwhile, two boys were running through Misawa Cram School's corridors. It was fortunate they were not students of this school. If they were, they would most likely get scolded and must attend a boring detention class for running at corridors at night and making a commotion.

As they ran, one of them spoke up.

"Damn you, Stiyl! Your explanations were all but correct!" Kamijou yelled in annoyance at the red-haired magician beside him. He glared at the priest before continuing, "If I knew things would be like this, I wouldn't have come along with you!"

"Shut up, how could I know that girl doesn't want to be saved? I just followed what my superior had instructed me to do!"

It was an unexpected turn of events that happened to Kamijou and Stiyl. They were able to enter the school easily, perhaps even easier than Naruto and Index were able to, and when they met each other that night, Stiyl had explained the details of the mission to Kamijou. He told him that they were going after Himegami Aisa, a girl who was known as Deep Blood, in order to save her from this place.

Stiyl told Kamijou that Himegami was someone who had the ability to attract and kill vampires with her blood. He also told the level 0 esper that the alchemist was going to do some experiments on Himegami's body in order to make use of her unusual ability. Stiyl said the girl was kidnapped and possibly was treated badly here.

Those were Kamijou's reasons to come along with the magician. His explanation was enough to make Kamijou want to help the girl, even though he had only met her for a few minutes before. Stiyl Magnus had convinced one Kamijou Touma to come along and save the girl from an alchemist named Aureolus Izzard.

However, none of the information was correct.

When Stiyl and Kamijou met Himegami, her response surprised them. She told them that she wanted to stay there. She did not need to be saved. She liked living in this place. The truth was the exact opposite of what Stiyl had told Kamijou before. Himegami was not treated badly at all. Instead, the alchemist treated her like a princess while she stayed. Although she said it has some down points, such as not being able to go out as much as she want, she felt that was alright and could be tolerated.

On top of it all, she also told them that the alchemist was going to help her get rid of her ability. She hated her strange ability more than anything in this world. She did not want to have it anymore. It was enough for her already, and it just so happened that the alchemist knew a way to remove it from her. Aureolus Izzard had promised he would help her to remove that ability from her body.

That was her honest wish: being freed from the ability she did not want to have anymore.

"And you said that alchemist was weak! If that's correct, then tell me: why do we have to run away from him!?"

"Damn, you sure talk a lot," Stiyl muttered in response to Kamijou words. He then added additional information about the matter. "He was a weak magician and alchemist when he was messing around three years ago! We didn't know that in such a short time he had found a way to finish the supposedly to-be-impossible incantation to such a degree. Even if I use my strongest fire magic here, I wouldn't win against him!"

The two continued to argue for a while until they were forced to stop. They had just entered the same room they had left before. It was the room where they met Aureolus and Himegami before.

The alchemist chuckled on seeing the surprised looks on Kamijou and Stiyl's face. "Feel surprised? I've already told you that I have complete control over this place, yes? This is my place, I can do everything I want here." He paused for a moment and gave a broad smile. "Making you run in a circle, only to come back here, is nothing special for me."

"Hmm, what do you want from us?" The red-haired magician asked. He managed to keep his voice sounding calm enough, even with all the nervousness he had inside.

Aureolus ran his fingers through his neatly-combed green hair and answered Stiyl's question, "Simple. I can't let you leave this place alive."

Kamijou widened his eyes on hearing the alchemist's words. He knew he was going to get big trouble when he chose to follow the red-haired magician's words, but not to this extent. His misfortune radar had warned him not to get involved with this matter, but he had ignored it.

It was truly an unfortunate day for Kamijou Touma.

"We came here only to save her," Kamijou said, pointing at Himegami, who was standing beside Aureolus this whole time. He then continued, "Since she doesn't want to be saved, we're going to leave this place. In that case, I don't think there are enough reasons for you not to let us to get out from this place alive."

"Oh, but you're wrong," Aureolus said with a smile on his face. "That's not the reason. It was because you know I used the Gregorian Chant replica and had finally mastered Ars Magna. I don't want them to be known widely by others. I'm sure you'll tell others about it if I let you leave this place alive." He then added some more explanations. "Of course, I could simply use Ars Magna to erase your memories of this place; however, there was a possibility you'll regain your memories some time later. So, in order to prevent that from happening, I must take another route to keep my secrets away from others by making you disappear from this world."

Those were his reasons.

Gregorian Chant was originally a grand spell used by the Roman Catholic Church by making 3,333 monks chant it simultaneously to conjure a powerful, long-range spell that was similar to that of an orbital bombardment. It was actually more accurate to describe it as a simultaneous chanting of a single spell by a mass of people.

However, on their way before they met the alchemist, Kamijou and Stiyl had noticed something. They had found out that all the students in this place were forced to chant a spell continuously. The culprit behind this was none other than Aureolus himself. He used a replica of the Gregorian Chant to complete a powerful alchemy technique for his own benefit.

Ars Magna.

It was the name of the alchemy technique which Aureolus used. It was a terrifying technique which let its user's thoughts and imagination into reality. With the technique, the user could do anything he wanted to do. Kamijou and Stiyl had seen its effects firsthand. They saw him revive a dying girl and make her into a new toy for him to use. Kamijou knew she was just one of the two thousand esper students of this school who were being forced to chant the spell by the alchemist.

"I've talked too much, haven't I? Let's end this quick. I'll start with my old acquaintance first," Aureolus said, referring to Stiyl Magnus. "Float into the sky!"

As soon as he said those words, the red-haired magician's body lifted up from the floor. Aureolus made use of his completed Ars Magna to make Stiyl's body float few meters high above the ground. The next instant, the alchemist said four words that drained the color of Kamijou's face.

"Explode from the inside!"

As if commanded by an invisible force, the rune magician's body began to expand like a balloon and then exploded. Blood, flesh, bones, and internal organs splattered the area. The red stain of blood painted the floor where he used to be.

_...!_

Kamijou resisted his urge to vomit on seeing such a gruesome sight. However, the truly terrifying thing was the fact that Stiyl Magnus was still alive. Even with such a condition, the heart and blood vessels were undamaged. The heart was still pumping blood through the blood vessels to the organs and back to the heart.

_Damn it!_

Kamijou tried to think a way to prevent being paralyzed by the horrifying image. He had held himself back from shouting out loud as he saw the magician being torn into pieces. It was bad enough for him to know that Aureolus had the ability to change his words into reality, but now he was even seeing it with his own eyes.

He would face the same fate as the magician if he did nothing now. However, Kamijou could not think a way to win against the alchemist. He did not know how he was supposed to fight someone who can bring his words into reality.

"Alright, boy, you're next."

The alchemist's words sent a chill down Kamijou's spine. He could tell the alchemist was serious when he said he want to kill him. He would die here if he could not find a way to defeat his opponent in what little time he had left. Could his right hand negate Ars Magna's magic?

"Stop it!"

A voice broke the unpleasant silence that was going on. Although the voice sounded a bit shaken, it was clear enough for the other people in this room to hear.

The one who said that was not Kamijou. The black-haired boy stared in confusion. He looked at the one who stood between him and Aureolus with a questioning look. The person seemed to have an intention to stop the alchemist from doing any more than he already had.

One thought appeared on Kamijou Touma's mind. He was not going to die here— at least, not now. It was popular belief that a hero would always come out of nowhere at last moment and stop the villain from killing the main character. But no, it was not like that.

Someone else stood in front of Kamijou.

It was Himegami Aisa, the girl in miko's outfit who tried to stop the alchemist.

"Out of the way, woman!" Aureolus snarled. He glowered at her with razor-sharp eyes. However, the girl did not budge. She glared back at him as if trying to show her resolve. She was not going to let the alchemist do as he pleased.

"Please, that is enough," Himegami said with a concerned tone. Kamijou did not know why she stood in front of him, but he was sure he should thank her later when everything had gone back to normal.

However, the alchemist did not stop. He ignored the girl's words and said with a dangerous tone, "It's fine if you want to die. I think I can grant your wish."

Kamijou widened his eyes. Himegami was going to die if he did not do anything. He tried to force his legs to move but he was too late. The alchemist's sentence made Kamijou feel like his heart had stopped. He could not think clearly anymore.

Time truly seemed to stop as the alchemist opened his mouth.

"_Die!_"

As soon as the word left Aureolus's mouth, the girl in miko outfit lost her balance and started to fall onto the ground. Her soul had been separated from her body by the Arsa Magna's magic.

The girl did not even cry out. She regretted nothing. She wished she could stop the alchemist but it seemed it was only a foolish attempt. She was someone whose life's purpose was non-existence. She was hated by everyone, including herself. Her ability to attract and kill vampires was the sole reason of this. Maybe dying here was not as bad as she had thought it would be. Perhaps it was better for her to die now. After all, no one would cry if she die. No one would bring her flowers while visiting her grave, if she even had anyone visit it.

With no wounds, no bleeding, no illness, she simply died. Such was the fate of Deep Blood, Himegami Aisa.

Could one remain silent after seeing such a scene?

"Whose life..." Kamijou ignored the alchemist and ran toward Himegami Aisa. He needed no reason to do it. He simply thought that, if he let that body reach the ground, her death would become permanent. "...ARE YOU MESSING WITH, YOU BASTARD?!"

Just before her body reached the ground, Kamijou managed to catch her with his arms. As he touched her with his right hand, Kamijou heard a weak sound. He did not know why, but he knew what the sound was. It was the sound of her heartbeat. Although it was very weak, Himegami Aisa's heart was still beating.

She was still alive.

The alchemist erupted. "HOW COULD THIS BE!? DEEP BLOOD'S DEATH WAS ALREADY DECIDED! DOES YOUR RIGHT HAND POSSESS SOME SORT OF SECRET ART?"

_..._

Kamijou said nothing. He did not feel he should give the alchemist a reply. His questions were not important. The only important thing for him right now was the fact that he was able to save the girl from a fate she should not face. He had enough reasons to stand up against the alchemist now.

Kamijou Touma would definitely not forgive one Aureolus Izzard. Just because the alchemist had such a powerful spell like Ars Magna, he could do anything he wanted? No, that was not it. Even though the alchemist saw Himegami betray him by standing in his way, the man's action just now was absolutely unforgivable.

"Aureolus Izzard..." Kamijou gently placed Himegami's body on the floor and stood up. He walked a few steps forward and glared at the alchemist. It was the next instant when Kamijou suddenly declared, "IF YOU THINK YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT, I'LL DESTROY THAT FUCKED UP ILLUSION OF YOURS!"

The distance between Kamijou and the alchemist was only ten meters.

There were difference atmosphere around them. The air around Kamijou Touma's body was filled with anger. The alchemist's action had angered him to his utmost limit. He would not pity him. He was confident he could win against the alchemist.

On the other hand, there was an air of nervousness around the alchemist. Unlike with Stiyl, who was his comrade back then in Necessarius, Aureolus had never met this boy before. He did not know what ability he had. The only thing he saw was that the boy could negate the effect of his completed Ars Magna with his right hand. What power was it? Could he win against such an unknown force?

Aureolus gritted his teeth. He would not give up so easily. He would crush the boy who was standing in his way. He would not let this boy think he was better than him.

The alchemist took out a needle from his pocket and stuck it into his neck. As soon as he did that, he felt its effect immediately. It was an acupuncture technique to calm one's body. By doing so, Aureolus managed to stay calm in this kind of situation. He could not let his nervousness cause him to fail, not here.

"Be suffocated."

Kamijou stopped. There was something in his throat obstructing his breathing. However, Kamijou remained calm. He simply opened his mouth and moved the index finger of his right hand to his throat. As he did that, the sound of a glass shattering entered Kamijou's hearing. His Imagine Breaker had negated the effect of the spell. He had regained his breathing again.

"Be electrocuted."

Bluish-white sparks of lightning appeared around Kamijou's body. They did not wait him to react as they rushed toward his body from all directions.

_...!_

Kamijou raised his right hand. As if being absorbed by a lightning rod, all the sparks disappeared. His Imagine Breaker had once again saved his life. He was 100% sure he could win this fight.

He understood the truth behind the alchemist's seemingly-impossible power. It was not that he could make his words into reality. It was different. The alchemist did not have the power to do that. His Ars Magna was not based on words, but of the user's thought. So as long as he could make the alchemist believe he could not defeat him, Kamijou would win against him.

With that thought in mind, Kamijou confidently walked toward the alchemist.

"I see... So that right hand of yours could negate my Ars Magna with no exceptions. However—" the alchemist was confident when he said that. He then continued to speak, "—I can't let you go any further than this. I'll start by cutting off your right hand. Hidden rifle, rotate-fire your blade!"

Soundlessly, Aureolus swung his hand. An invisible spinning bayonet flew toward Kamijou at a terrifying speed.

Less than a second later, it had severed Kamijou's right arm. It was sliced neatly down from his shoulder. His right arm that once held the power of Imagine Breaker was spinning in mid-air. It had been detached from its position on his body by that last attack.

Kamijou saw his right hand fall onto the ground and felt his blood gushing out from the wound.

Two pairs of eyes, one blue and one green, saw it.

With a soft thump, Index— who had just entered the room with Naruto— fainted after seeing such a gruesome scene.

_Index? Naruto?_

Kamijou noticed the two as they entered. He remembered Naruto had told him he would come if Kamijou did not show up after two hours. He was too focused with everything going on that he did not think this possibility would occur. However, he had no time to think about it now.

_He thinks he could win if he slices my right hand off? He's definitely a person who can do anything he wants, but he can't do anything to the power of the Imagine Breaker._

Kamijou ignored his missing limb as he walked toward the stunned alchemist. While doing so, Kamijou was smiling earnestly. It was a smile that indicated his belief of victory.

"What's going on? Are you crazy from pain and fear?"

Kamijou did not answer the alchemist's questions. He merely walked at a steady pace toward the nervous alchemist. There was no hesitation in his steps. Those were the steps of a champion who was going to claim his victory.

"Damn it!" Aureolus took another needle and stabbed his neck. "Fire the blade to crush his head into pieces!"

...but nothing happened.

His target was still alive. He was still walking toward him with a smile on his bloody figure.

Aureolus began to doubt if he really could kill this boy.

"Repeat the previous command. Simultaneously fire ten hidden rifles!"

However, just like his previous command, all the ten bullets did not graze the boy even the slightest bit. How could this be? Aureolus did not know what happened. He had cut the boy's right arm off. He was supposed to be powerless once he lost it.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Aureolus could not stop the anxiety that formed inside his mind. "WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE ALREADY? DAMN YOU!"

_..._

The boy still said nothing. The distance between them had been reduced into four meters now. It was only few more steps before Kamijou reached the alchemist.

"DEPLOY A COUNTLESS NUMBER OF GUILLOTINES TO DISMANTLE THAT BODY!" The alchemist screamed. As soon as the command was given, a countless number of guillotines appeared from seemingly thin air. Those weapons were ready to be used to kill anyone who opposed the alchemist's will.

However, even with those, the alchemist doubted if he could kill the boy that was walking toward him. He looked at the boy's face and became terrified on seeing the broad grin on his lips. Could he kill him with this attack?

"DIE, BOY—"

"OI!" It was the boy's voice that entered the alchemist's ears. He looked at the boy, who somehow had already managed to stand right in front of him, "YOU DIDN'T THINK YOU COULD GET RID OF MY IMAGINE BREAKER JUST BY CUTTING OFF MY RIGHT ARM, DID YOU!?"

Aureolus's body trembled in fear of the boy in front of him. His anxiety had reached its maximum limit. He knew he could not win against this boy.

Ars Magna was a spell that granted its user's wishes. If the user thought he could not win against his opponent, Ars Magna granted that thought. That was one of the reasons as to why the alchemist could not finish Kamijou off, even after cutting off his right arm.

The alchemist widened his eyes.

He could not describe what he saw right now. From the boy's shoulder, where his right hand should be, a transparent dragon had formed. Its fierce eyes were glaring at him.

Aureolus swallowed down his saliva. The next thing he knew was the dragon's mouth, widened until it could go no further, launching towards his very own soul.

That was the end of the alchemist's life. Aureolus Izzard, a magician who was also an alchemist, had died on that night.

* * *

_...!_

The atmosphere of the room did not calm down after the defeat of the alchemist. In stark contrast, it grew heavier as if something worst would be happening soon.

There were five people who were still alive in this room, however, only one of them managed to stay conscious at this moment.

It was Naruto, the blond boy who had been sleeping for twenty years. It was him who knew exactly what happened just now.

The boy widened his eyes. He could not believe what his blue orbs showed him. It was something he had never heard of. It was something he had never seen before.

"**KUKUKUHAHAHAHAHAHA!**"

A loud maniacal laughter entered Naruto's hearing. It came from the black-haired boy who stood twenty meters away from him. No, it was not Kamijou's voice. Although Naruto had only been around the level 0 esper for only a little while, he was sure it was not his voice. The laughter did not even come from the boy's mouth.

"**FINALLY, I REGAINED MY FREEDOM!"**

The distorted voice was coming from Kamijou's right hand. Or rather, his lack of. The transparent figure that resembled a dragon had become more and more solid now. It took the form of a dragon head with the color as red as blood. Two yellow eyes with black slits, glowered at the surprised blond fiercely.

"What are you?" Naruto asked the figure.

He did not know why things happened like this. It was a sudden turn of events that happened right before his eyes. He thought everything would be alright when he silently helped Kamijou in his fight with the alchemist just now.

Kamijou would have died if Naruto and Index did not come at that exact moment. The black-haired boy, who barely was conscious, could do nothing to block the alchemist's last few attacks. He did nothing to evade the simultaneous shots from the magical bullets. It was Naruto who used his power to help his new friend.

The blond had the ability to control anything related with heat and temperature around him. He had used his ability to change the air temperature around Kamijou's body when he walked toward the alchemist. He did it while keeping the layer around his friend's body to stay the same as normal, so Kamijou would not notice the difference. By doing so, Naruto had made the alchemist see an inaccurate distance between him and his target. It was quite similar with the occurrence of mirage in a desert. It seemed like an optical illusion for those who saw it using naked eyes.

However, Naruto had never thought of the figure's appearance before.

"**OH? ONE OF MY MEALS ASKS ME AS TO WHAT AM I?"** The figure which appeared from Kamijou's right shoulder bemusedly asked Naruto before continuing, "**I SUPPOSE YOU'VE HEARD THE TERM 'DRAGON' BEFORE. THAT'S WHAT I AM! THE REAL ONE, NOT SOME KIND OF SECRET CODE USED BY THAT DAMN MAGICIAN WHO SEALED ME** **INSIDE THIS BOY'S BODY!**"

Naruto could not believe what the figure just told him.

A dragon? A real one? What the hell happened in this world?

He could not deny the fact that he had slept for twenty years and missed a lot, but that did not change the fact that he was having a conversation with a dragon. In fact, Naruto believed a dragon was just a creature of legend which often being told to children as a bedtime story. Who would have thought he would meet one now?

And what secret code was it talking about? Was it related with his code name? Naruto was not sure about this, but he knew he should take the dragon's words into consideration. There might be some truth behind its words. He would not deny there was a possibility in which the secret code this dragon said has a relation with his name.

Lastly, who was the magician who sealed a dragon inside Kamijou's body? What the hell was that person thinking when he did so, anyway?

_Damn it, too many questions without any answers._

Naruto had no time to think thoroughly about his situation. The dragon before him did not seem to be a patient one. Not that Naruto could complain about it, though. He was also eager to do everything after he woke up from his deep slumber. It was possible that this dragon felt the same as him. However, unlike Naruto, who wanted to know the changes happened to the world after he woke up, this dragon had an eagerness to have some meals to satisfy itself.

Before him, Kamijou— whose body had been controlled by the being inside him— turned his body. It seemed the dragon had chosen the one who will become its dinner.

It was Himegami Aisa, the girl in miko outfit. The girl had finally gained a second chance to live her life after Kamijou saved her from inevitable fate. She was supposedly to die on the hand of the alchemist if Kamijou did nothing. However, the same person who gave Himegami her life back was going to take it again. No, that was not the same person. Although the body was Kamijou's, the one who was in control was not him.

Naruto widened his eyes.

He did not know the details about what happened in this room before. He did not know that the miko had experienced death before. He did not even know who her name was.

However, he felt he must do something this time. He had taken lot of people lives back then. This moment was a good chance for him to redeem himself. This was a rare opportunity that would not come again any time soon. This was the time when he, someone who had committed unforgivable acts before, needed to decide on something.

Would he let the dragon kill her?

Or would he save the girl's life from the danger?

Naruto, without any doubts, chose the second option. There was no reason for him to choose the former. He was not the same person from twenty years ago. He would show _her_ that he could change.

With that thought in mind, Naruto brushed off his hesitation and dashed forward. The twenty meters distance was closed in an instant. He had manipulated the air temperature around his body to help him to move faster. Physics had taught him that hot air moved towards colder air. However, this theory was not entirely correct. The truth was both hot and cold air moved toward each other to create equilibrium in the system. But on some rare occasions, that law too, was not absolute. That being said, by simply manipulating the heat around his body to an extreme degree, Naruto was able to move faster than a normal human.

He wrapped his arms around Himegami's delicate body. Her body was surprisingly light and soft, therefore, Naruto had no problem carrying her in his arms. Just a moment after, the dragon's head slammed against the floor where Himegami had just been. It seemed the dragon was able to make its body longer. By doing so, its attack range increased from the distance of normal human's arm into several meters in length.

**"YOU...!"**The dragon roared at Naruto. It was so powerful it shook the whole building where Naruto and the others were in. It felt as if an earthquake had just happened there. The glass windows were all but shattered. The ceiling was about to collapse. The dragon seemed to be extremely angered by Naruto's action. "**YOU ARE MERELY A WEAPON CREATED BY THOSE WHO CALLED THEMSELVES BOARD DIRECTORS OF SCIENCE FACTION, AND YET, YOU DARE TAKE AWAY MY PREY FROM ME?"**

Naruto widened his eyes. The dragon just said something that made him feel surprised. He did not even know about this dragon's existence, but it knew him? What exactly happened in this city?

The board directors.

That name was the first that appeared on Naruto's mind after hearing the dragon's words. When the problem with this dragon finished, he surely was going to find and ask every single one of them. He had never known anything of his past. His memories began about twenty years ago. He could not remember what his childhood was like. He did not even know if he have a childhood at all.

However, even in this kind of situation, Naruto felt relieved. The facts that the other people were unconscious at this moment made the secret of his past remain untouched. He did not know if he could explain it to Kamijou, and especially Index. That was going to be a problem if they were to hear what the dragon said just now.

Naruto quickly thought the course of action he should take regarding this terrible situation. There were actually not many options left for him. The first was to confront the dragon directly. However, Naruto was sure if he did that, things would not go pretty well. There was a possibility that the massive building known as Misawa Cram School would crumble if he were to choose that option. Not to mention that the dragon resided in Kamijou's Touma body. He might hurt his friend if he did not think about this properly. He also thought about the 2,000 lives that were here in the building, including his friends'.

He needed to ensure his friends' safety first.

Naruto immediately moved toward Index's location. He let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the nun was still unconscious. Naruto was sure Index would probably faint again if she saw Kamijou's current condition. Who would not faint if someone they care so much became such a monster?

Not so far away from Naruto's position, a figure was stirring. It was Stiyl Magnus, the magician whom Aureolus had defeated in a single move. The red-haired magician's wounds were no more to be seen. It had surprisingly been healed already. Perhaps, before Aureolus lost his life, he had condoned himself and reverted everything back to normal. At this moment, Stiyl was looking at Naruto and the two girls' direction, he shifted his glance toward Kamijou, and then back to Naruto again.

"What happened?" That question was the first thing that left the magician's mouth.

"I would've told you if I knew," Naruto replied his question before throwing a question towards the other man. "You're the magician who brought Kamijou here, right?"

Stiyl nodded his head, "Yes, I'm Stiyl Magnus from Necessarius." He shifted his glance toward Kamijou's direction, missing the surprised look on Naruto's face. "What are we going to do? Destroy that thing together with the boy's body?"

The blond shook his head, "No, you'll bring Index and this girl outside. The other students might have been evacuated from this building after the earthquake that took place before," he said before continuing. "Can you do just that?"

"Of course. For that child, I can burn the living to death and the dead to ashes, no matter whether it is done in front of her or behind her back," he said while referring to Index. After all, Stiyl was Index's partner before. He was willing to do everything he could for the sake of Index's safety.

Naruto looked at the red-haired magician for a brief moment as if trying to see if he was lying or something. However, he could not find a lie behind his words. He then said to him in a serious tone, "Alright, you go now. I'll stay here a little bit longer."

After Naruto said that, Stiyl took Index and Himegami, one on each shoulder. He was about to leave the room when the mysterious blond asked him a question.

"Hey, is there a person named Laura Stuart in Necessarius?" Naruto continued after seeing the red-haired magician gave him a nod, "Okay, then. Leave this place now, and be quick!"

Naruto jumped away to avoid the dragon's attack. It seemed it had become furious knowing that Naruto made all his prey leave the building. It was going to lash out its frustration on the blond's body, who was the reason it missed its dinner.

_Damn it. If it were me from 20 years ago, I won't hesitate to unleash my full power here._

Another attack from the dragon hit the floor where Naruto was previously standing at, turning it into pebbles and dust as the powerful slam impacted.

_But if I do that now, Kamijou's body will... No, I can't do that._

Naruto continued to think a way to deal with this problem. He bent his knees and jumped to avoid yet another attack that was directed at him.  
_  
Who knows what Index will do if I told her I killed her Touma. I need to think up something really fast, _Naruto thought as he landed with both feet. It was the next moment when Naruto realized something. How could he have missed that before?  
_  
I think I know a way to deal with this thing. Let's just hope it will works._

Naruto's eyes quickly searched the vast room. Not long after, he found what he was looking for. He moved there while dodging another attack from the dragon.

It was the missing part of Kamijou's body, his right arm. He was not sure if his prediction was true or not, but it was worth a try. He had questioned himself from the very first time he saw the dragon. Why did it never appear before? Why did it say it was sealed?

There was only one possibility. The reason behind it was the Imagine Breaker. It was the power residing in Kamijou's right hand. It was able to negate anything except physical damage. It held an unimaginable power that was able take care of everything from esper's power, magic, and even God's blessings.

As he took it, Naruto noticed the dragon did not attack him. It was strange, but when he looked forward, he knew the reason.

On the dragon's mouth there was a ball of condensed energy being built up. It seemed the dragon stop using physical attacks and was going to use some kind of magical attack.

Naruto did not know if that was something he could take head on. However, he did not want to test it. If he made a wrong move, the right hand which possessed the power to seal the dragon up, could be reduced into ashes. He could not let that happen.

Naruto concentrated his power and tried to dispel the energy ball. His intention was to make the ball become unstable by adding more heat into it. Unfortunately for him, it did not work as expected. The spherical attack on the dragon's mouth expanded to the size of a basketball and kept growing larger in size.

**"DIE!"**That was the last word Naruto heard from the dragon. In such a moment of desperation, Naruto closed the distance between him and Kamijou in an instant. Naruto moved so fast he looked like an esper who just used teleportation ability. Just a moment before it launched its attack, Naruto placed Kamijou's right arm in its respective place on Kamijou's body.

And it did its purpose perfectly.

It was truly a gamble he did there. He did not know if that right hand lost its power after being severed from Kamijou's body. However, it was fortunate that was not the case. The Imagine Breaker ability was still there. As soon as it became reattached to him— although it wasn't really connected— the dragon had all but disappeared.

Naruto knew it was not disappear forever. It might come back again one day. At least he could let out a sigh of relief now.

Only one thing was left for him to do now. He needed to take Kamijou to a hospital as soon as possible.

It was fortunate that Naruto knew there was a hospital nearby. People around the city told him that a frog-faced doctor was really good and was said to be able to do the impossible. The nickname of the doctor was Heaven's Canceller.

As he took Kamijou to the hospital, Naruto thought about two of the three major things he learned today.

The first was Board of Directors. He must find a way to confront them. He knew it was not an easy thing to do but he would do anything he could. He must find more information about them first, though.

The second was the fact that Laura Stuart was still alive and currently in Necessarius. He had to find her and settle some unfinished things from 20 years ago.

With so many things that happened today, Naruto understood one more thing.

His second life did not seem to be easier than his previous one.

* * *

End of chapter.

Tell me what you think about this chapter. All reviews, questions, comments, flames, and suggestions are highly appreciated and will be given a reply via PM.

This chapter has been beta read by: Mon Esprit Libre


	4. Chapter 4

London, the capital of England.

It was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. No less than 30 million visitors from other countries came to visit this place each and every year. Although about half the number of visitors came to visit Buckingham Palace, many other interesting places could be found in London, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Thames River, and St. James's Park. Other than those mentioned before, there were also some other places seemed to be overlooked by the tourists.

One of them was St. George Cathedral. Although it was called like that, it was but one of the many churches in the heart of London. Even though it was not considered small, it could not be compared to the Cathedral of Canterbury, the origin of Puritanism in Britain.

This cathedral was one of Necessarius's secret bases.

It was still very early in the morning, but a person with blonde hair had made all of the long journey to come to this place. A pair of blue eyes wandered around the place for a while. It seemed someone was supposed to come here but had not showed himself yet, though the appointment time had already passed.

Waiting was a boring thing to do, especially when it was the time when normal people were still sleeping soundly in their beds. However, the person looked at this situation as a job which must be done, so waiting a little longer should be alright.

As long as it could still be tolerated, anyway.

Before long, a red-haired man clad in a black priest robe entered the cathedral. Despite being a priest, the man wore earrings on both ears. He also bore a silver ring on each of his ten fingers, and to top that all off, he had a barcode tattoo right under his right eye.

His name was Stiyl Magnus, the British Puritan's magician who excelled in fighting using fire and rune magic.

"...Thou art late. Whence comest thou?"

"I know I'm late, but you don't have anything to do anyway," Stiyl said in a carefree manner before continuing. "I just arrived at Heathrow Airport thirty minutes ago and came here immediately. What do you want from me?"

Upon hearing Stiyl's words, the figure frowned. Speaking with that manner was not something a person who was late should do. Of course, there was no need to apologize profusely; however, was it that hard to say "I'm sorry"? No, it was an easy thing to do - though, not many people were willing to do that.

Although they had the same hair and eye color, the figure with Stiyl Magnus was not Naruto. Who knew what that boy was doing at that moment? Academy City, which was located in Japan, was 8 hours ahead of London, so it was already past noon there. Perhaps the boy got himself involved in another problem like he did two days ago.

The woman with Stiyl Magnus was Laura Stuart. At this moment, she held the position as the Archbishop of Necessarius and Anglican Church. However, despite having such a high position, Laura looked like an eighteen-year-old girl with long blonde hair that was 2.5 times her height. Of course that was not her real age, since she had been in this position for more than ten years already.

"Hmph, canst thou wit what I wilt ask once thou cometh hither?" Laura said that with a pout on her lips. It was hard for Stiyl Magnus to understand what she was saying.

Stiyl frowned, silent, then asked, "Before I answer that, can I ask a question?"

"Where's thy durst? Ask away."

"Why does your Japanese sound so stupid?"

_...?_

The Archbishop of the Anglican Church looked like someone who had been told that her shirt was buttoned wrong. She initially froze, and then her movements stopped completely. She blushed while saying,

"Ah...eh...? Is...Is it aberrant? Is 'Japanese' not supposed to sound like that?"

"Pardon me, but I don't really understand what you are trying to say. You are trying to speak the ancient language, but it just doesn't feel right. Why didn't we speak in English from the start, anyway?"

It was fortunate for them; they were inside a church with no other visitors at this hour. If there were any, Laura's embarrassment might become doubled or even tripled.

"Ehm...I learned my Japanese from many sources, such as literature and television programs. I even asked a real Japanese person before..."

"Eh, may I know who that 'real Japanese person' was?"

"Uh... I think his name is Tsuchimikado Motoharu..."

"Please don't consider that dangerous guy an ideal Japanese person. He was someone who lustfully lets his own stepsister wear a maid uniform," Stiyl told her before continuing. "If I may ask, did you also use that language in an important meeting with, let's say, the Japanese minister?"

Laura could not answer Stiyl's question. Her mouth hung open. The color of her face changed due to embarrassment. One could say it has become red like a ripe tomato now.

"You did, didn't you?" Stiyl let out a sigh. Who would have thought that his superior actually had this side of hers? Knowing their conversation would not go anywhere if he kept this topic, Stiyl chose to drop it. He repeated the question he had asked before. "What do you want from me?"

"Ah, yes." Laura patted her pink-colored robe a few times. Once she was done doing that, she looked as if she had changed into a completely different person. The clumsy atmosphere around her was all but gone. She had a serious expression on her face now. The blonde woman's gaze met Stiyl's brown eyes as she began to speak.

"I wish to hear the details of that last mission from you."

Upon hearing her words, Stiyl knew it was better for him to start explaining, so he told her all that happened that day. He told her about how he distracted Index and Kamijou's blond friend that afternoon. He told her about the method he and Kamijou used to sneak into the building without being known. He also told her they found out that Deep Blood did not want to be saved. Stiyl explained all the information he had gathered from Aureolus, including his way to complete the Ars Magna by making use of Gregorian Chant replica. Stiyl finished his explanation with the event that happened after he regained his consciousness. He told Laura that, when he woke up, he saw Index and Deep Blood being held by Kamijou's blond friend from before. He was the one who faced the strange dragon that was coming out from Kamijou Touma's right hand.

"I think that's all I can say about what happened that day. I don't know what exactly happened when I was unconscious, but I think Kamijou and that blond boy worked together to defeat Aureolus," Stiyl said. Then he threw a question to his superior. "Is there anything else you want to ask me?"

Laura hummed as she processed the information she got from the priest. She really could not understand what was in that man's head. She was sure he was the one who did all those things in the name of science. That alone was something she could not tolerate. He had made hundreds, if not thousands, of experiments using human bodies. He was the one who created espers in the first place.

"And who is this blond friend of Kamijou Touma you mentioned before? I'm sure you have collected some information about him."

Stiyl nodded his head. He had indeed done a short investigation about that person. After all, he was the one who endangered Index's life by bringing her along to the battlefield. He was also the man who put the end to that troublesome dragon, though Stiyl did not know as to how he did it.

"I can't get any information about him. Even our spy in Academy City doesn't know anything about him. It seems like his data was classified or he doesn't have any." Stiyl paused for a moment before continuing with, "I only know his name. It's Naruto."

_...!_

The last information from Stiyl stunned Laura. He just said the name she had not heard for long time. It was so long she had forgotten that name ever existed. The last time she heard that name was twenty years ago. She could not believe her ears. Maybe Stiyl made a mistake? _Yes, that must be it,_ she thought.

"Are you sure about that? You didn't make a mistake, did you?"

"Yes, his name is Naruto. A boy with blond hair, blue eyes, three whisker marks on each cheek, around sixteen years old, wearing orange and black jacket over a white shirt combined with long orange pants. That Naruto," Stiyl told Laura, who showed an expression he had never seen before. As he described the boy's appearance, the magician remembered something. It was the short conversation he had with the boy on that unfortunate day, "Do you know him? Because he seems to know you. That night, he asked me if there is 'Laura Stuart' in Necessarius."

The Archbishop could not hide her surprise anymore. No, it was not that. It was a shocked expression on her face.

How could this be?

Memories from her past flooded into her mind. She needed some time to think about this. It was something she had to do alone. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to calm herself. Once she felt better, she opened her eyes and told the magician before her, "That's all I want to hear from you. Thank you very much; you may leave now. I have something urgent I must do."

She said that without leaving any option left for Stiyl Magnus. As expected, he followed her orders. The magician left the church and his Archbishop alone. No one knew where he was heading for. However, that was not important. The rune magician would come again when another job required his help.

* * *

Academy City, a city with 2.3 million people. It was only about third the size of Tokyo, but this city had the most advanced technology in the world. It was the only place where esper powers could be produced. No one knew what method they used, but the result was clear. There were thousands of espers scattered around the city, all ranged from level 0 to level 5.

The classification of esper powers in Academy city was something like this: level 0 had no powers, level 1 had weak powers, level 2 had unusual powers, level 3 had strong powers, level 4 had very strong powers, and level 5 had incredible powers.

At this moment, a level 0 boy walked under the hot summer temperature.

His name was Tsuchimikado Motoharu. Today, the tall boy was wearing stylish sunglasses and a loose t-shirt combined with black trousers.

Tsuchimikado walked briskly to his destination. He looked at his wristwatch and realized the time was 12:59 P.M. It was only a minute before the meeting with his client would start.

He stopped in front of a building.

No matter how many times he had come to this place before, the building still looked strange to him. It had no doors, windows, corridors, or even staircases. Not many people knew the purpose as to why such a building was built in the first place. However, he was a lucky person to know the secret about this place. Actually, perhaps it was more unlucky to know about it.

"Please don't give me that look. I didn't come late, did I?" Tsuchimikado said to the person before him.

"Hmph. If this isn't some kind of 'work' that's going to be given to me, I would rather spend my time elsewhere than wasting it to talk with you."

"You're still as cold as usual, Musujime," Tsuchimikado said to the girl. She had long, dark red hair which she put into two low ponytails. He then continued to talk in a carefree manner, ignoring the girl's death glare. "Come one, bring me in, nya~"

A second later, they were inside the windowless building.

Musujime used her esper power to let Tsuchimikado Motoharu enter the building. Her esper power was called Move Point. It was a long-distance teleportation ability which allowed her to move any objects without touching them. At this moment, her power was still at level 4, but there was a possibility for her to grow into the next level 5 esper of Academy City.

"I've brought him in," Musujime said while looking at the third person among them. "My job is done, right?"

"Thank you. You could normally leave, but I need your help to bring him outside once I finish this meeting."

The girl with teleportation ability said nothing. She nodded her head and vanished into thin air.

A voice came from a large glass cylinder in the middle of this sealed room. The cylinder was 4 meters in diameter and 10 meters in length, and there was red liquid inside it. Thousands of cables and tubes were scattered around the spacious room and connected to the cylinder in the center.

Inside this cylinder, there was a person in a green surgical gown floating upside-down. This person looked like a man, yet also a woman; like an adult, yet also a child; like a saint, yet also a criminal. This 'human' let the machines handle all its life function. His entire body, including his brain, was in a hibernating state and all his thinking processes were assisted by the machines.

He was the founder, leader, and general superintendent of Academy City: Aleister Crowley.

"What are you planning now?" Tsuchimikado asked the floating figure before him with an impatient tone. He was not Aleister's direct subordinate, so he did not even try to hide his annoyance at his employer. This Tsuchimikado Motoharu was working as a spy for both magic and science side. No one knew where his allegiance truly was.

Facing the boy who looked unhappy, Aleister just said casually, "It's no problem. I'm completely aware what I was doing."

Tsuchimikado could not believe it that he started to doubt his own hearing. How could this person act so loose after something like that happened right under his nose? And it happened not even two days ago. Tsuchimikado had never heard that as being one of Aleister's plans before. The appearance of a being that resembled a dragon inside Misawa Cram School was completely a new thing for him.

His purpose for being a spy for both sides was to ensure a war would never occur again. It was all thanks to Tsuchimikado who manipulated the information leaked outside of Academy City so that an understanding term between the two sides would still have its effect. If he did not, the chance that a war between science and magic faction to happen was almost certain.

"You are 'aware' of what you are doing? I truly want to believe that, but I can't." Tsuchimikado paused for a moment. "Don't you know that the appearance of that being was even more shocking than the grimoire library's seal being released by Imagine Breaker?"

"So this is all about your classmate's well-being?"

Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Kamijou Touma attended the same school. They were both classmates. They had become good friends since they were in middle school, together with another boy named Aogami Pierce. Although he did not show it, Tsuchimikado felt worried about his friend's condition. The black-haired boy had not regained his consciousness and was hospitalized ever since that night.

And Aleister saw through this all.

The "human" then spoke again in his usual calm tone, "Don't worry about him. It'll shorten plans 2082 to 3277, that's all."

Tsuchimikado looked at the person before him. He was aware it might not be Aleister's real body. The figure inside that glass tube probably was only a hologram image made by super-computers. He did not even know if all those cables and tubes really functioning as it seemed to be. All those life support systems most likely were just a feint made to fool others. After all, what was the need to build such a big building if this amount of machine was all Aleister needed to prolong his life force?

"You always say that when I ask you about it. What are plans 2082 to 3277 anyway?" Tsuchimikado hoped this time the person would actually give him an answer for his question. However, Aleister's reply confused Tsuchimikado even more than he had before.

"If Deep Blood proves the existence of vampires, what do you think does the Imagine Breaker proves?"

After it all, Tsuchimikado got nothing from his meeting with Academy City's general director. All he got from him was a headache. He decided to change the direction of their odd conversation into something else.

"Hey Aleister, do you really believe you can avoid a war?"

"The one who should have belief is you. You are the one in charge of the work behind the scenes." Aleister said to him before continuing, "Don't worry too much, if you work hard enough, we could end this conflict without anyone losing their lives."

That was the time when the air beside Tsuchimikado rippled. A second later, the familiar figure of red-haired girl appeared beside him. It was Musujime Awaki, the level 4 teleporter. It seemed Aleister had somehow contacted her from the outside to pick him up.

Damn it. Why did it always end like this?

Tsuchimikado cursed it all. He could only hope what Aleister said was true. All he could do for now was doing his best to prevent a war from happening.

* * *

In a foreign country, an elderly man with long, white beard frowned. By doing so, he made the wrinkles on his face became more patent.

His name was Matthai Reese. However, no one called him using that name anymore. He was not sure if people even knew his real name nowadays. Almost everyone around the world addressed him with his position.

He was the leader of Roman Catholic Church, the Pope.

_Calling me at this hour? I hope this is not a social call like last time._

He looked at the spiritual item on his hand. It was a communicating device that worked exactly like a phone. However, since it used magic to operate, it was much safer. No one who was not connected with the magical item could hear what the conversation was about, even if they were standing right before the user.

"Good morning," the Pope said to the person who called him. "May I know for what reason the Archbishop of Anglican Church is calling me at this hour?"

"Why does your voice sound so wary? Do you think I'm calling you only to say 'hello'?" the woman on the other side of the line asked before continuing, "There are two important things I need to discuss with you."

The Pope did not give her an immediate reply.

He stroked his beard as he listened to Laura Stuart's voice. She said there were two things she need to discuss with him. That statement was something he had never thought would come from her, ever. Matthai Reese had gotten himself in his current position even before the name of Laura Stuart was heard of. He knew what kind of a person Laura Stuart was. If his memory served him right, the Archbishop of Necessarius would always do everything on her own. She would never ask anyone for advice, nor would she seek help from others.

There was only one possibility as to why she called him this morning. She was going to convince him and try to steer his course of action regarding these "two important things" she mentioned before.

The Pope could not let her do that. He was aware of the Archbishop of Necessarius's true nature. He knew that no one was better than her in manipulating human feelings: rationality, interest, ethics, and necessary values. She would not hesitate to use anything and everything in her disposal to gain her goals, even if that might cause another world war.

One perfect example of this was her way to gain the Archbishop position. She was only a normal magician back then. She did not have any political power nor did she have a special ability which could make her rise to the top easily. How could she get herself to the top then? It was not an easy task for an average person to do. All the previous leaders of Anglican Church were either had great influence or invaluable virtue.

In the history of British Anglican, Laura Stuart was the only one who was able to achieve that position despite having no such things. That was why she was called the hidden dragon among magicians. She was somehow able to get to the top, and it was not done cheaply. It was impossible to tell whether she was good or evil. She did as many good things as she did evil things. She kept an intricate balance between the two.

"Hmm, it's rare to hear that from you," the Pope said to Laura, "but I think I could spare some time to talk with you about this matter. What are these 'two important things' about? To make an Archbishop of Anglican Church call an old man like me so early in the morning, they are really important, aren't they?"

"It depends on how you look at it," Laura said. "The first thing is about Kamijou Touma."

"And who is this Kamijou Touma? Is he a new Japanese idol who had become heretic or something?"

"...I really want to say your joke is funny but that would be a lie. Please act like a Pope should and be more serious, because this is not something you can laugh at. I know your spy in Academy City had informed you about what happened two days ago."

_Hmm, so it's about that. Let's see if I can get some information from her._

"Oh? But I haven't got any good report yet, can you explain what exactly happened that night to this senile old man?"

"Finally you admit you've grown senile. I'll make sure to write this down on my diary - the day when Roman Catholic Pope makes his confession. Hmm, that sounds good, maybe you should consider to give up your position to someone younger?"

The Pope let out a sigh. It was always like this when he talk with her. He probably would never know what was going on inside her mind. No wonder she could keep that position for more than 10 years already.

"Why can't I win a battle of words with you? Alright, I know a little about him. He is the boy who has Imagine Breaker at his right hand. He also lives with the grimoire library, Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Also, at that night two days ago, your magician was spotted sneaking into a school together with the Imagine Breaker boy and an earthquake happened not long after." The Pope paused for a moment before speaking again. "That's all I know, and I don't see anything so important about it. Will you start explaining it to me now?"

"How old are you?" Laura asked, completely unrelated to their discussion. She, once again, made the Pope sighed on the other side of the communicating device, "Sorry if it sounds rude of me, but I don't have that intention. I only hope you don't have a heart disease at that age. After all, I don't want to be charged for the crime of killing the Pope by words."

"...Just tell me already, what's going on?" the Pope asked, ignoring the sound of giggle from the other side.

"You're no fun." The Pope could not see her, but he just_ knew _she was pouting right then. However, despite appearing like that, the Pope knew better than anyone else. She was someone whose personality and looks could easily deceive others. He should be extra careful whenever he talked with her. "That Imagine Breaker suppresses the existence of another being inside his body."

Upon hearing her explanation, the Pope raised an eyebrow. What did she mean with another being inside that boy's body?

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you lost me there. Can you be more specific and explain what happened that night?"

"Stiyl Magnus, the name of Necessarius's magician whom your spy had seen that night, reported there was a dragon coming out from Kamijou's Touma body once his right arm was cut off." Laura did not give the Pope a chance to interrupt her. "I'm sure he is the one responsible with this problem."

"Crowley?"

"Yes. There's no one other person in this world who would do something like that. I can't understand what he's thinking."

_Same goes for you,_ the Pope thought.

"But that's not really a problem. Even if he tries to use that boy and the dragon to start a war with magic side, we have plenty of ways to deal with it. Why do you sound so riled up, then?"

"Because the problem is not only that," Laura replied. "As I said before, there is a second problem which is even greater than the dragon's appearance."

Matthai Reese was confused. A dragon inside one's body was not something he had ever heard of. It was the first time probably anyone heard of something like that. However, Laura said there was something more important than that. He thought that, at his age, he would have heard about any extraordinary things happening in this world, but that one statement he heard just now was something he had a hard time believing.

"And what is the second problem? I want to know what is more important than a dragon inside a boy's body."

"I hope despite your becoming of a senile old man, you still remember what happened twenty years ago."

Matthai Reese remembered. He probably would never forget it for the rest of his life. That was the time when a war between science and magic faction happened. "Yes, I remember that moment very well. What are you getting at?"

"Project NARUTO. Academy City has started it again, despite the agreement we had with them."

"You don't mean they're breaking the peace treaty between both sides, do you?"

"Unfortunately, that seems to be the case, although it's not official yet. That's why I said I need to discuss things with you; this is not something I should take care by myself. We must take action and deal with this matter as soon as possible before the history repeats itself. I don't want bad things to happen like how they did twenty years ago," Laura said. "I've already informed Queen Elizard about this matter, and I will immediately call the Archbishop of Russian Orthodox Church after our conversation is done."

"Wait a minute, Laura." For the first time since they started the conversation, the Pope called the Archbishop with her first name. It was not because they were familiar or something, but because he had something urgent to ask her. "What happened to you? Weren't you the one who are against the idea of shutting down that project twenty years ago? You are the one who said there's another way to deal with the matter. Why do you act this way now? Shouldn't you be happy, since this means that person is still alive even after all these years?"

There was a short pause before the Anglican Church's leader gave her response.

"...Yes, I did that before. However, that person had already died twenty years ago."

"What if he hasn't?" the Pope interrupted before muttering in a low voice. "Not that I regret choosing the option to end that boy's life twenty years ago, though."

"Have you not heard the term of 'clone'?" Laura asked.

The Pope did not know what to say right then. His spy had informed him there was a person in Academy City whose appearance was the same with the person from twenty years ago, but he had dismissed it. However, his name was also the same with that monster from twenty years ago. Even his choice of clothes and accent were the same.

"I don't think Crowley would go as far as that to start another war with us. What makes you believe he had done so?"

This time, Laura was able to give an immediate response. She had thought this line even before she made the decision to call the Queen, the Pope, and the leader of Russian Orthodox. She believed there was no other possible explanation other than this one she had thought up.

"If he has the heart to make 20,000 clones from 'The Railgun' only for them to be slaughtered by just one person, what makes you believe he won't be able to do the same with that project? That's why I suggest an immediate action from the magic side regarding this matter. It would be easier for us when there is only one clone of him. If Crowley makes ten of thousands or even more, what do you think will happen then?"

"...Somehow, that doesn't sound good anymore." The Pope paused for a moment. "As the Pope, I can't make hasty decisions. However, I'll make sure to pay my full attention regarding the two matters you told me of. If it proves to be like you said before, I'll glad to take part and deal with the problem accordingly."

Just like that, the conversation between the two ended. The connection line via magical device they used had been disconnected. In the end, they did not come into a mutual understanding. However, it might become the other way around if things did not progress smoothly. No one knew what would happen next; only time would tell.

* * *

A/N: (DBZ Style)

Finally, the leaders from magic and science faction showed themselves. What's Aleister plan? How will the Pope react after hearing two shocking news? What's exactly the relationship between Naruto and Laura?

Until next time :)

This chapter has been beta read by: Mon Esprit Libre


	5. Chapter 5

Silver.

It was the first color Kamijou saw when he opened his eyes. That was the hair color of Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the foreign girl who lived at his place as a freeloader.

However, Kamijou would not think about that matter until later. He looked at the sleeping girl and frowned. She had slept while sitting on the chair beside him. Her head rested on his hospital bed, near his shoulder. It seemed the girl fell asleep there because of the exhaustion she got after staying awake all night. _She must be waiting for me to wake up,_ Kamijou thought.

Despite the peaceful face she had while sleeping, Kamijou could see traces of tears on her cheeks. A feeling of uselessness crept up on his heart. He made the girl cry again. He did that, even after making a promise to never make her feel sadness again. What kind of a person he was if he could not keep his own words?

As that thought occupied Kamijou's mind, the girl beside him squirmed. A few seconds later, a pair of emerald green eyes showed themselves. It was at that time that Index's gaze met Kamijou's.

"Touma!" Index cried out when she noticed he was awake. Two days had passed since the incident in Misawa Cram School. This whole time, Kamijou Touma had not regained his consciousness until just now.

Index had fainted the moment she saw the horrifying scene that night. It was an image which she would never been able to forget in her lifetime due to her perfect memory. The nun did not really know what exactly happened. The only thing she knew was the fact that Kamijou got his right arm, right up to his shoulder, cut off by the alchemist.

Kamijou told her he was going to his friend's place that night, but she knew it was a lie; someone told her the reason he was coming to that school, which led to the condition he was now.

It was not Naruto who told her that. When she met him, the boy looked like he was hiding something. He did not say anything and always tried to avoid her questions. The only answer he gave her was something like: "I'm sorry, I don't know about that either" or "can you ask about something else, Index?"

Knowing she would not get any satisfactory answer from the boy, Index tried to ask the red-haired magician who brought her out from the building. Unfortunately for her, that person, too, did not want to tell her anything. He left her and Himegami after dropping them at this hospital. She had not seen that person since.

That left her with only one option: ask the long-haired girl in miko outfit. She learned a lot of things from her. Her name was Himegami Aisa, also known as Deep Blood. She told her that the red-haired magician and the black-haired boy came there because they thought she needed to be rescued. She told Index everything she saw and experienced that night up until the part where she lost consciousness after getting a direct hit from the alchemist, who used his Ars Magna to kill her.

Index looked at the boy on the bed.

"I-Index, why do you have a scary look on your face? That's not how you greet a patient, you know..." Kamijou chuckled nervously before continuing. "Don't tell me you're going to bite this Kamijou-san's head again... OW! That hurts! Index, stop it, stop it!"

And that was the time when the door of his room suddenly jerked open.

"Did I just interrupt a hospital bed scene between you two?"

The moment he asked them that, Index immediately let Kamijou's head go. From her expression, she was still angry with Kamijou for "some reason." He had lied to her, made her feel worried, and got himself hurt so badly that he needed to be hospitalized for days, all in a single night.

But still, the nun did not say anything or complain about that. It seemed that Index did just like a wise man had said: "When we truly care for someone, their mistakes will never change our feelings because it's the mind that gets angry but the heart still cares."

Meanwhile, Naruto stepped into the room, ignoring what he saw. Index biting Kamijou Touma's head was nothing new for him. He now considered it to be a normal thing. He would not make any comments about it, since it was kind of amusing for him to see the strange relationship the two had.

"Anyway, it seems you've finally regained consciousness, Kamijou," Naruto said as he took a seat beside Kamijou's bed. "I thought you wouldn't get up any time soon. After all, you got your arm sliced off from your body that night."

His words reminded the level 0 esper of the unfortunate event happened that night. He remembered how the alchemist cut off his arm. He remembered the fact he kept moving toward despite all the pain he felt at that moment. And most importantly, he remembered how he won his fight against the alchemist.

He looked to his right and asked himself a very important question:

_What was that thing coming out of my hand?_

Kamijou did not know the answer. He could not remember anything that happened after the alchemist's defeat, so that meant he had no way to know what conversation Naruto and the dragon had on that night.

As that question occupied Kamijou's mind, Naruto tapped the boy's shoulder twice. It was the right shoulder where his wound previously was. This act alone was enough to wake him up from his reveries.

"You're lucky that frog-faced doctor is very good with this kind of job. He really holds up the reputation he has, doesn't he? You didn't feel hurt when I hit you just now, right? You should thank him later," Naruto told Kamijou. "He said you can go home as soon as you wake up, meaning you don't have to stay here any longer than necessary. Oh, and he also said this to me: 'That boy's injuries get more and more interesting each time he comes here. I wonder what kind of injury he'll show me the next time he end up in this place again.'"

As she heard Naruto's last few words, Index was ready to leap into Kamijou's head and chomp it. She would never forgive him again if, one day, Kamijou got himself in worse condition than this time. Was there anything worse than getting his arm cut off from his body? It was too bad Index did not have a lot knowledge about fighting and injuries. Someone in that field of expertise would be able to tell her a lot of worse conditions could happen to one's body, especially if the opponent used magic or esper power.

"I can go home now? That sounds great," Kamijou said with a mix of surprise and happiness in his voice. He then remembered something. "Do you know where I could find Himegami? You know, the girl in miko outfit we met in restaurant before. I need to say thanks and discuss another thing with her."

Naruto and Index nodded their heads. They knew where she was. Actually, they did not have to go very far since the miko was still in this hospital. Although she seemed worried about Kamijou's condition, she had not made any move to actually enter this room. Naruto and Index had tried to convince her that was alright, but she always found a way to decline that. In the end, she looked like a stalker going around her crush without doing anything else. What a pity.

"I think she is—" Index did not have to finish her sentence as Naruto continued for her.

"—in front of this room," Naruto finished. "Hey, Himegami, stop hiding there and come here. Kamijou has already woken up and wants to see you."

The sound of a surprised gasp came from the other side of the door. Without looking at the person herself, they knew whose voice that was. The owner of said voice was none other than the long-haired girl in red and white miko garments.

There was a slight pause before the door of Kamijou's hospital room opened slowly. The next moment, they saw the familiar figure of the miko girl. Today, she was still wearing her usual attire_. Did she have no other choice of clothes?_ They wondered.

"G-Good morning." The girl greeted everyone in the room as she bowed her head like a traditional Japanese person would do. Strangely, Index followed her gesture and bowed her head too. It seemed the girl was already infatuated with Japanese culture, despite having living here for no more than two weeks. Or, rather, she got influenced by the girl in miko outfit since she was the only one she could talk to other than Kamijou, who had just regained consciousness, and Naruto, who went missing quite often. She did not know where he was going, but the nun did not want to ask him that. That was called prying into someone else's business, and that was not something she wanted to do, especially to her friends.

"Ah," Kamijou scratched the back of his head and said, "I want to thank you for saving my life with your body back then. I was so surprised you're willing to— wait, did I say something wrong?"

Kamijou asked as he noticed the different expressions on each person's face around him.

First, he noticed Naruto was giving him a strange look. His eyes looked like a wild beast trying to catch its prey. His grin did not help to ease Kamijou's nervousness at all. It seemed as if the blond was holding himself back from saying something that was not going to end up well for him.

Kamijou gulped. _This is bad, definitely bad._

On his left side, Index growled as she muttered something like: "Touma, first you did that kind of things with that short-hair, and now with this long-hair?" Even though Kamijou knew that Index was reffering to Mikoto and Himegami respectively, he did not know the reason of her thinking like that.

And lastly, Kamijou looked at Himegami. She was fidgeting her fingers and her face was tinged with red color. It seemed only the level 0 esper who did not know the reason of that blush on her face.

_Such misfortune._

"Ah, ah, even with that innocent look on your face, you're hiding ulterior motives, aren't you, Kamijou?" Naruto's question made the boy widened his eyes in surprise. His words, however, had different effects on both girls.

"INWEX! STOWP, IT HUWTS!" Kamijou was not able to pronounce his words correctly as the nun bit his head while pinching his cheeks with both hands. It was a new experience for him, but definitely not a good one.

"Umm," Himegami finally said something after her "too formal" morning's greeting, "it's me who should thank you for saving my life. If it were not you, I would have..." Her voice trailed off as she remembered the night when she almost lost her life.

"A-Anyway, thanks again for your help and I'm sorry to ask this, but since Aureolus had died that night, you don't have a place to live, right?"

After a brief moment of silence, Himegami responded to Kamijou Touma's question. She gave him a small glare as she began to speak up.

"I-If you think that way of my body and want to make me live together with you, I'd have to forget all your kindness and get angry with you," she said while blushing madly.

The blond boy's laughter filled the room, muffling the sound of Kamijou's scream as he was being bitten by the angry nun once again.

"Index-san, could you please stop your strange habit to bite this Kamijou-san's head? It's unhealthy for someone who's still in recovering state, you know?" Kamijou wailed like a child. His words, however, were able to stop the nun enough for them to be able to have a normal conversation again.

"So, what do you have in mind when you asked her that, Kamijou?" Naruto waited him to answer the question, only to find out that Kamijou was having cold sweat all over his face right then. "You really want to make her move to your house and live together with, despite already have Index stay there, don't you?"

_..._

"Wait, wait, stop glaring at me like that. Both of you." Kamijou tried to defend himself from the two girls near his bedside. Hastily, he answered Naruto's question using the first thought that came up to his mind. "I wanted to ask if Himegami wants to live with Komoe-sensei. Yeah, that's it, Komoe-sensei."

"...Well, isn't that great? Now I can't make fun of him anymore," Naruto mumbled under his breath while looking through the window on his side.

"Um, may I know who is this 'Komoe-sensei' and what kind of a person she is?"

Everyone looked at the miko, a person who rarely spoke unless necessary, as she asked her question. This time, the one who answered was Index.

"I know her, I know her," Index said as she raised her hand like an elementary student who was excited to answer her teacher's question. "She is a very nice and kind person who has short, bright pink hair, and is about this tall." Index moved her hand about 135 centimeters off the ground when she said that last part of her sentence to give a rough description about Kamijou's homeroom teacher.

"Eh? I thought you're in high school, Kamijou?" Naruto asked, getting a confused look from the others. "From Index's description just now, your teacher is a twelve-year-old girl!"

"Well, please don't mind her height, or childish personality. Actually, she is the most caring teacher to her students that I know of. I doubt there's another person like her around here. That's why I think it'd be safe to leave Himegami with her." Kamijou paused for a moment before saying with a slightly lower voice, "Though, I think she'll force you to join our school as a student."

"Does it mean I will get into the same class with you?"

"Yeah, I think so," Kamijou replied the miko's question nonchalantly, missing the shine that appeared in her eyes.

"Okay," she nodded her head after making her decision, "I'll live with her from now on."

"It's good to hear that the problem has been solved," Naruto said, gaining everyone's attention. "In that case, I'll take my leave now. I want to meet your teacher but I've something else to do. Maybe next time, okay?"

After he said that, Naruto stood up from his chair and walked toward the door. He waved his hand at the three occupants of Kamijou's hospital room while saying "see ya later." The three could only wonder as to where he was going to. Naruto did not tell them and they knew he would not, even if they asked him. He was someone with that kind of personality, in their opinions.

* * *

Several hours had passed since Naruto left Kamijou Touma's hospital room.

When he told them that he had something else to do, he was referring to the activity he always did each and every day since his fated meeting with the dragon. He did not actually believe all of what it had said to him. However, Naruto would not deny the fact that the dragon had given some valuable information. He spent all his free time searching for any clues he could get. From what he learned, at least one thing of what the dragon had told him was correct.

The board of directors.

They were a group of people who were holding the highest position in Academy City, only under the Board Chairman, Aleister Crowley. This group consisted of twelve people with absolute authority within the city of espers. It was public knowledge that most, if not all, of them were directly involved in the dark side of the city. Naruto would not feel shocked if he found out that either one of its members, all of them, or only the board chairman himself, were the culprits behind the appearance of that dragon from Kamijou Touma's right hand.

And more importantly, his second life.

Naruto pondered.

He had no real evidence about it, but the blond had an incline as to who was behind all of this. It was impossible for a dangerous person like him to suddenly wake up in the middle of a secret facility without any real reason behind it. There must be a person, or maybe an unknown group, behind his second awakening.

Naruto knew he had "died" twenty years ago. Or rather, had been completely shut down. That was the more appropriate term. Only the higher-ups of Academy City had the kind of authority to start up the project that had ended 20 years ago.

His project, a hated and despicable project named Project NARUTO.

That time, during the war between magic and science faction, he was a weapon of mass destruction. His name told it all.

How did it come to be like that? What did his code name, "NARUTO," stand for? He did not want to think about it. If he could, he wanted to remove it from his mind. He wanted to delete all the unnecessary information that remained in his brain. He wanted to wipe it for all of eternity. He did not want to remember what happened back then. He wanted to forget it all. However, using this filthy name in his everyday life was a reminder for him; a reminder of his dark past.

Naruto started to regret his decision introducing that name to Index and Kamijou. If he chose another name —a fake name, perhaps— he would not be forced to use it like he did now. He would not have to stay reminded of his purpose each and every time someone called his name.

The purpose as to why he was created.

Maybe, the term "created" was not exactly true. Even with their seemingly unlimited scientific power, Academy City still had not been able to create a human. Though, making a clone was an easy thing to do for those mad scientists. The reason behind it was because cloning was a process of decoding one's DNA map and remaking it using the existing data found inside.

That being said, Naruto was not created by people from science faction in the first place. However, it still left him with many questions.

If that was the case, then, who was he? He could not be sure, but he believed the scientists had erased some, if not all his memories to make sure the project was a success.

_Screw that! I don't want to remember it anymore. I've changed now. I'm not my past self anymore._

This time, he was different. He did not know whether his change of view of this world was controlled by someone else, or it was because he still had some of his sanity left.

Those questions were the ones that drove him to do his research. He wanted to know all and everything that happened in this city, especially if it had some kind of relations with his existence.

Even if he had to join the dark side of this city to find it out, Naruto would not hesitate. Even if he had to leave his new friends, he would not look back.

However, if he had to oppose or kill his new friends, he was not sure the current him could do just that.

For now, that was his final decision. He would not change his mindset about this matter. His determination to find out about this problem was greater than anything else.

As he walked through the busy streets of Academy City, Naruto noticed someone he knew. A short-haired girl wearing Tokiwadai Middle School uniform stood before a pet shop.

Trying to forget his thoughts from just a minute ago, Naruto decided to greet her. Maybe talking with her could relieve some of his stress. With that thought in mind, Naruto walked toward her direction and tapped her shoulder once he got there.

"Hey, evil lightning girl, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked, gaining the girl's attention as she turned her body to face him. Before she could say anything, Naruto continued to speak while grinning. "You didn't think about stealing those cute animals, did you?"

However, the response he got from her did not go as expected.

"'Who are you?' asks Misaka as she tilted her head in confusion. 'I'm sorry, but I can't remember if we have met before,' says Misaka as Misaka bows her head, expressing her apologies."

Naruto was confused. The girl before him was definitely that girl he had met before. If he remembered correctly, her name was Misaka Mikoto, an esper who excelled in anything related with lightning.

"You're not Misaka Mikoto? Are you her twin? Because both of you look exactly the same, except for that goggles you wear, of course."

"'Oh... You are referring to onee-sama,' replies Misaka as she nods her head twice," she replied immediately, but her words were somehow vague. "'Although she is not her twin, you can refer Misaka as onee-sama's sister,' says Misaka as Misaka tries to explain the complicated relationship between her and onee-sama to you."

"...I'm starting to have a headache here." Naruto rubbed his temples and tried to change their conversation. "So, what are you doing here? Do you want to buy a pet?" Naruto kindly asked her, but she looked down and shook her head.

"'No, not really,' replies Misaka."

"Then, you can just go inside and play with them, right? I'm sure the shop owner wouldn't mind if you do just that."

"'It is impossible for Misaka to do that,' says Misaka. 'Misaka has a fatal defect,' adds Misaka, giving additional information."

Naruto gave her a puzzled look.

_What defect?_ He could not see any kind of defect on her, other than the strange way of speaking she had been using.

"'Misaka's body is constantly forming a weak magnetic field,' explains Misaka. 'The human body cannot detect it, but it seems other animals can,' says Misaka, trying to be helpful and letting you know more information."

Naruto felt a little sorry for her. It must be painful for an animal-lover like her to not being able to even touch those cute animals because her esper ability. From what he got from her explanation, Naruto concluded that the animals would be afraid, or at least be wary, of her presence and try to run away if she came too close to them.

"I'm sorry." Naruto gave her an apologetic look, only to get a confused expression from the girl.

"'Why?' asks Misaka as Misaka tries to pry some information about your well-being. 'You do not have a concussion, do you?' asks Misaka with a concerned tone in her voice. 'Misaka cannot think of any reasons for you to feel sorry for her.'"

"...Never mind." Naruto could not find the correct words to reply her question, so he tried to evade it. "Anyway, since you can't do much with the animals here, do you have any other hobby that doesn't get interfered by your ability?"

"'Misakas cannot have a hobby,' replies Misaka sadly. 'She just want to stay here a little longer to spend what little time she has left,' explains Misaka cryptically, so you cannot guess what she has in mind."

Naruto did not understand what she was saying. There were too many questions formulating in his head to understand her.

Firstly, she said "Misakas," a plural of her name, instead of "Misaka." Did she say it wrong? No, there must be some other reason. Although he could not be sure, there was a chance that there were more than one Misaka in this city.

If that was the case, then, was she a clone of Misaka Mikoto?

_Damn it, those bastards actually did something like this._

Naruto gritted his teeth as he finally understood what the girl meant before. She said she had a complicated relationship with her onee-sama. At first Naruto thought she was her twin sister, but her last sentence broke that thought. There was not only one Misaka, there were plenty of them. And the only explanation was a cloning project.

Really, he needed to deal with this matter really fast.

Naruto's mind drifted to the second matter. She said something about spending what little time she had left. He did not want to have pessimistic thoughts, but, from the way she worded it, he knew she was not joking around. She did not have much time left, and that was not something about her dormitory's curfew or something. She meant it literally, as if her life would end very soon.

Naruto knew she would not answer him if he asked her about it, but he could not let her face this problem alone.

He had a bad premonition about this.

"Don't worry, I'll accompany you for a while."

"'No!' yells Misaka as she tries to send you off. 'You cannot stay here because—'" Misaka stopped her words midway. She knew if she continued, the blond boy before her would know about her secret, and she could not let him learn about it. It was not because she did not want to share her problem with others. It was more because a danger was awaiting her, and it was ready to swallow him altogether if he chose to stay on her side.

This blond boy might have killed by that person.

The scariest person that she knew of.

The most dangerous boy around.

Academy City's number one.

"As I said before, don't worry." Naruto lightly tapped her shoulder. "I'll stay on your side for a while. I don't care what you say, and even if you try to run away from me, I'll follow you."

"'But, it is too dangerous for you to stay with Misaka,' says Misaka in a concerned tone as she tries to explains her condition to you. 'You might lose your life if you stay with this Misaka.'"

"Just more reasons for me not to leave you alone."

"'You...'" For the first time, Misaka could not reply his words readily. She looked at him for a brief moment and scowled, "'Fine, Misaka doesn't care what happen to you,' replies Misaka as she pouts using her cheeks to show her displeased feeling. 'Everything that happens to you is your own problem,' warns Misaka as Misaka tries to make you leave for the last time."

Upon hearing her warning, Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and started another conversation with her to waste some time.

"Yeah, yeah... Sure, whatever. Just know that I won't change my mind," Naruto said. "Anyway, what kind of food do you like? Have you ever heard the food of gods? It's called ramen."

* * *

The sky had turned to the black of the sea at night.

The moon was in a crescent shape. It looked like a sneering mouth and its light was too weak to reach an iron bridge a distance away from the center of Academy City. With the black of the river running below as well, the area seemed to have sunken into darkness.

Misaka Mikoto had her hands on the handrail as she leaned her body onto it as well, staring at the distant lights of the city.

_..._

Bluish-white sparks of lightning crackled around her body. She continuously let out those weak sparks as she remembered her dearest wish when she was younger. She had that wish ever since the day she learned that she was able to generate lightning from her body.

A starry night with a number of sparkling stars made of her Electromaster power.

That was her dream before she grew up.

Now, she did not feel like she had the right to have that dream anymore.

She made a weak smile and muttered a single word from her small lips.

"...Why?"

She really wanted to answer it, but she could not. She did not know the answer, nor did she know where to seek it.

She could do nothing to prevent everything from happening.

"It was all my fault..."

She was referring to the naïve decision she made few years ago. It happened when she was ten years old. A researcher had asked her if she wanted to help people with muscular dystrophy. The researcher had said that those people might be able to be saved using her power. He told her some basic information about how one's brain worked by sending electrical signals to one's body parts. In this case, the patient's muscles.

As a child, Misaka Mikoto believed what the researcher had said. She wanted to take part in that experiment. She wanted to become a saving light for those people. She had wished that her power was truly able to help them out.

That was how her DNA map was officially recorded into Academy City's Bank.

However, everything did not go as she expected it to be.

Recently, Mikoto learned that her DNA map had been used for something different. It had been used to create military sisters. Her DNA map was used to make twenty thousand Misaka clones.

If they were used as military soldiers, as weapons, Mikoto might be able to take it to a certain degree, although reluctantly. But no, the sisters did not even get a life as a weapon. The purpose of their creation was solely to be killed as experimental animals.

There was a project ran by Academy City's scientists. They were going to make a level 6 esper. To do so, the Academy City's number one needed to kill all twenty thousand sisters with different methods each.

"WHY DID IT END UP LIKE THIS!?" Mikoto shouted on top of her lungs. She did not care if someone heard her voice. It was too much for her to take.

Because her foolish decision, the life of twenty thousand individuals were sacrificed.

The last time she heard about it, slightly more than ten thousand sisters had been killed.

_Can't I do something to stop this?_

That single question always appeared on her mind. Whenever she thought about it, she could only come up with one answer.

However, up until this point, she could not force herself to do it.

She was Academy City's number three. She had the title of the Railgun, the Ace of Tokiwadai, and the Electric Princess. She must look strong from the outside. She had been wearing a mask all this time. It was something she had to protect at all cost.

However, no one knew how she was in the inside.

Deep down inside her heart, Misaka Mikoto was like a piece of paper being soaked in water. She was weak, fragile, and about to disappear. Even a gentle touch might tear her. She really wanted to cry to her heart's content, but her tears never came out.

How she longed for someone who would actually help her out. However, there was another problem: she was too proud to ask help from others.

More correctly, she did not want anyone to get involved with her problem. It was her problem and hers alone. The one who must put an end to it was none other than she herself.

Mikoto clenched her fists.

_I will do it tonight. I don't care if I have to die, as long as I could save them, s_he thought to herself.

This whole time, she had been thinking of a way to stop the experiment. The only answer she could get without involving others was to sacrifice herself.

The tree diagram had predicted that the Academy City's number one would shift into a level 6 if he killed 128 Railguns. However, they could not prepare 128 Railguns.

So they took another route, which was to substitute quantity over quality.

Instead of fighting and killing hundreds strong espers, he could gain the same result if he killed twenty thousand weaker ones.

But, what if that calculation was wrong? What if she make them think that her value was way more below than that?

The tree diagram had calculated that, if both of them fight against each other, Mikoto will lose after 185 moves. However, if she deliberately make herself lose in few moves, her value would deteriorate. Those researchers would stop their experiment because they would learn that, even if he killed all twenty thousand sisters, he would not shift into a level 6.

_Yes, that's the only way to stop this._

* * *

"Such misfortune," Kamijou Touma muttered as he stepped out of a grocery store. There were two large paper bags on both of his hands.

The level 0 esper had just been released from the hospital a few hours ago. He should be resting to recover his condition now. He was thinking about laying lazily in front of his TV while eating some snacks.

But, no, reality was not that kind to him. What he did right now was a complete opposite from what he thought he would be doing.

How did he end up doing this kind of stuff?

The moment he, Index, and Himegami arrived in front of Komoe-sensei's front door, Kamijou noticed his misfortune radar warning him. However, he could not turn back right then. He must finish what he had started before.

So he rang his teacher's apartment doorbell.

When the door opened, the short, pink-haired teacher showed up and started lecturing him for slightly more than an hour. It was because he had skipped his additional summer class with her for days without any notice.

However, being lectured for skipping class —although, he _had_ told her his reason was due to he got hospitalized— was not the worst thing happened to Kamijou. The moment he explained his purpose bringing Himegami Aisa there, he got another lecture from his dearly teacher. This time, the session was more than two hours long.

He was half-dead after Komoe-sensei stopped her lecturing mode.

The good thing was, in the end, the teacher who looked like a twelve-year-old girl accepted his request. She let Himegami stay in her apartment with one condition: next semester, Himegami must attend a high school. It was the same place where she was teaching and Kamijou was a student at. Komoe-sensei said she would arrange Himegami's transfer and she would be able to get the same class as Kamijou.

Once again, Kamijou missed the sparks on the miko's eyes when she heard that.

Shortly afterward, Komoe-sensei asked Kamijou to do an errand for her. Knowing he had no rights to refuse, Kamijou could only nod his head in defeated manner.

That was how he ended up buying groceries from nearby department store.

As he walked back to Komoe-sensei's place, Kamijou saw that scene.

He saw Mikoto stood alone on the iron bridge, staring vacantly into the night sky. When he saw her, he was hesitate. He did not know whether he should go there and greet her or not.

She looked so exhausted, so different with how lively she usually was.

As he pondered what he should do, Kamijou heard it.

"_Why did it end up like this_?"

If he could hear it from this distance, she must be shouting so loud that her throat would hurt after.

_What happened to her?_ Kamijou thought.

He made his decision. _To hell with these groceries._ He threw the two large bags down and bolted toward the iron bridge.

Since he was not _that_ close with her, he had no reason to do so. However, Kamijou did not need a reason. All he knew right now was that there was a girl who needed his help. No matter what problem she had, he could not remain silent.

He would help her.

Even if her problem might cost him his life, Kamijou would not hesitate.

That was how Kamijou Touma was, both before and after he lost his memories.

"...What are you doing?"

Mikoto looked at the boy. There was ten meters distance between them.

Strangely, the Mikoto before him was the usual lively, smart-assed, and selfish Misaka Mikoto.

"Hmm? I'm free to do whatever I want wherever I want. After all, I'm the Academy City number three, the Railgun."

Despite her perfect acting, Kamijou could see past her mask because it was simply too perfect.

"Stop that... I know you're not alright. I know something is bugging you," Kamijou said before continuing. "Just tell me, I'll help you."

Misaka Mikoto was stunned by his words. No one had said those kind words to her before.

But, he said _he was going to help her_?

"Don't make me laugh." Mikoto's expression changed. She did not have her lively expression anymore. She looked like a time-bomb ready to explode anytime, "Don't you realize that you're a mere level 0 esper without any kind of power!? And you said you're going to help me!? Such nonsense! Are you actually as stupid as you look!?"

Kamijou felt a stab of pain in his chest.

He knew he was a powerless esper. He was an ordinary high school boy who would have a hard time when it was one-on-two fight, and he would definitely run away if it comes to one-on-three. The only extraordinary thing he had was his right hand.

Even then, his right hand was not overly powerful. It had its ups and downs.

And Kamijou understood it all. However...

"I don't care! I said I will help you, and I'm not going back at my words."

"Stupid..." Mikoto muttered under her breath before asking him, "Do you understand what you just said?"

Kamijou took a step forward. He did not know what her problem was, nor did he know if he could help her.

But he really meant his words.

"Of course," Kamijou answered as he took another step forward. "Just tell me what your problem is and I swear I'll do everything I can to help you out."

_..._

Mikoto did not know what to say. She could only look at the boy in front of her, who was moving closer and closer.

_Is it alright to let him know about my problem? Could he help me putting an end to all of this?_

Before long, Kamijou had closed the distance between them. It was only five more meters before he could reach her.

"This is wrong. You shouldn't keep your problem alone. I can help you."

"No... I started this problem. I must take responsibility of it. I don't need your help, so please back off right now before you get hurt."

Despite having been warned by her, Kamijou still tried to make another move forward.

"Are you stupid or what!? Get out of the way!" Mikoto yelled to Kamijou. She started to get angry and annoyed with him. She wanted to resolve this problem herself. She did not want a third party like him involved and possibly get hurt because of her.

However, Kamijou had different thought on his mind.

"Why are you so selfish? You know you can't solve whatever problem you have right now. If you can, you'd have finished it already instead of standing here all by yourself," Kamijou told her. "Everyone has a limit. I, you, and everybody else, we all have our own limitations. I know you've already passed that limit so please... Let me help you."

For an instant, just an instant, a surprised look appeared on Mikoto's face.

That look was quickly replaced with anger.

"You can easily said that because you don't know what my problem is! I'm the reason 10,000 sisters lost their lives! I'm the one who made 10,000 more sisters, who can do nothing but wait in line to get slaughtered like animal! It's all because of me, a person who so stupid as to let that researcher get a hold of my DNA map!" Mikoto continued to vent her feelings despite knowing the boy would most likely not understand what she was saying, "I'm going to fight now. I know I have no chance of winning, and will die if I keep going. But..." Her voice trailed of as her mind clouded with her feelings. "I don't care. If I have to die to save their lives, that's alright with me."

Kamijou stopped his tracks.

He had not grasp what her problem was. However, he was not stupid. He knew her problem was huge. He knew the lives of twenty thousand people was in her hands, for one reason or another. He understood she wanted to solve this problem alone.

He knew she was ready to die to do that.

But he could not stop now. He could not let her sacrifice herself.

"I won't let you," Kamijou said as he looked straight into her eyes. "I won't let you die."

"I see. So you don't care about the lives of 10,000 sisters," Mikoto said with a dangerous tone. "I want to protect them with my hands. If you're going to stop me, I won't hesitate to take you out here. This is your final warning. Get out of my way."

As she said that, bluish-white lightning started to form around her body. It was more intense than she had let out before. It seemed the Ace of Tokiwadai was going to show him as to why she was called the number three.

However, Kamijou Touma did not change his posture. He did not make an offensive position, nor did he make a defensive position.

He did not even raise his right hand, the hand which held the power of Imagine Breaker.

Kamijou merely shook his head.

"I won't..."

…_?_ "What are you saying?"

"I won't stop you, but I'm going with you."

Mikoto felt as if her breath stop for an instant. They were not good friends, not even in friendly relationship since everytime they met, they always ended up fighting or at least, bickering.

She could not understand his way of thought.

"...Why?"

"Why" was the only word that came out from her lips.

And his response was:

"Because I care about you."

* * *

End of Chapter

A/N: Sorry for late update, life got tough lately. I just came back from a medical trip together with my dad who had a heart disease. Everything went alright, his operation was a success. The doctor there said he could be back normal again and we'd meet up with the doctor again for a checkup two months after. However, God has another plan for us. He says otherwise. My dad passed away three days after we got back.

Sorry for that, I just want to share what I have in mind with all of you. For you who still have one, or both of your parents, love them. You won't understand until they left you, forever.

This chapter has been beta read by: Mon Esprit Libre

See you next chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

Mikoto lowered her head, her eyes shut tightly. A moment later, she spoke in a weak voice, barely audible enough for Kamijou to hear, but he heard it nonetheless.

"There's no way I'd accept something like that... I don't deserve those words anymore."

As she spoke, a lone tear came out from her eye, trailing down her soft cheek and falling onto the ground. She wiped her eyes with the back of her palm and yelled.

"Just shut up! I'm not the good person you think I am!"

After she said that, a condensed ball of lightning formed in her right hand. The ball appeared to be holding too much power, making it look unstable from the outside. Small sparks of electricity came out from the ball every once in a while as she prepared herself to use it.

The next instant, Mikoto threw it in Kamijou's direction without waiting the black-haired boy to prepare himself. The spherical electricity traveled through the air at the speed of light. It was aimed at Kamijou's chest area. Since it was made by the strongest electromaster in the city, it had enough power to knock a normal person out for days.

* * *

Naruto followed her.

He was a small distance away behind the girl who tried to escape from him.

The reason was not because Naruto was stalking her. It was not because she had stolen something from him. It was also not because she was a member of the board of directors, some people he really wanted to have a talk with.

The girl who had the exact same appearance with Misaka Mikoto, except for the green goggles she wore, was a clone of her. She was the girl whom Naruto met in front of a pet shop that evening.

And she had already told him so many times not to follow her. She had warned him bad things might happen if he kept following her. Naruto did not listen to her words, however.

He was not an ignorant person who only wanted to do things that he thought were right. He was doing what he was for an entirely different reason.

He knew the girl was hiding something from him, and he wanted to know what it was. He didn't want to because he liked to pry into someone else's personal life, but because he had a bad premonition about what was happening

For some reason, he knew she was going to lose her life if he did not stay longer. He wanted to help her, even if she would hate him for it.

"Hey, Misaka-imouto," Naruto called at the girl who was walking in front of him before continuing. "I can call you that, right? Since you're technically her sister, I don't think there's a problem with that."

"'You can call Misaka with whatever nickname you want,' says Misaka as she thinks about her nice new nickname. 'But, Misaka wants to tell you not to follow her for the last time,' says Misaka as she uses a slightly higher voice to emphasize her point."

"And I've already told you that I won't do that."

That was the only conversation they had before Misaka-imouto stopped running from him.

She had arrived at her destination. According to the plan, this place was the last place she would visit. She would not live past the night, and her life would end here. She was running out of time now.

They were at a train switchyard. There was an area about the size of a school's grounds that was covered in the same gravel as a train track. Over ten rails were lined up next to each other. Surrounding the entire switchyard were large numbers of metal containers used on freight trains. The containers were piled up like building blocks, rivaling three-story buildings in height.

As all students had to be back from school by the time the last train left, the switchyard was quickly abandoned. The electric lights used for work were turned off and there were no houses nearby, leaving next to no illumination in the area.

Naruto looked around and noticed someone else was there, hidden behind a metal container.

"Hmph, didn't they tell you to come here by yourself? Now that he knows what's about to happen, I have no other choices but to kill him." A chilling voice suddenly greeted them.

A boy stepped out from that darkness. The first impression he gave off was white.

He had white hair color, skin as white as a cloud, and was wearing white clothes and shoes to complete the picture. The only exception was his fiery red eyes that looked like those of a predator's, ready to catch prey without giving any chances to its prey to run away.

Naruto looked at him and frowned.

Despite wearing white attributes, which usually describes a pure soul, a saint, or a holy person, this boy did not show any sign of goodness. Instead, he was giving off a dark, terrifying aura. A white darkness might be the most proper term to tell his appearance.

And that was the time when Naruto saw it.

The boy had something in his mouth. He was chewing the object like a half-eaten lollipop. However, Naruto knew it was not one. It was something he knew so well from his dark past.

The person was chewing a finger, a human finger made of bone, flesh, and blood.

_He is insane, _Naruto thought, emotions running through his mind.

Even when he was a bloodthirsty front-liner weapon of Academy City during the last war between the magic and science faction, he had never done some crazy things like that, nor did he want to know the taste of a human finger.

If he remembered correctly, the worst thing he ever did back then was turning a whole village in England into ashes. Even so, he was not proud about it. He did not feel pleasure from doing it. He even started regretting his action after he met that person there.

"An all-white-wearing albino guy with a crazy personality," Naruto said in a monotone. "You must be that person: Academy City's number one, Accelerator."

Said person spat out the object he had in his mouth before. He raised his foot and slammed it onto the ground, crushing it without hesitation.

"Tch, it doesn't taste good anymore. I need a new one," Accelerator said with disgust. He did not give Naruto a response as he walked a few steps forward and stopped about ten meters away from Naruto and Misaka-imouto.

A pair of fiery, red eyes glowered toward Naruto's direction.

However, the blond did not say anything. Both Naruto and Accelerator were only exchanging glares without making any movements.

It was Accelerator who made the first move. He bent his legs slightly backward and kicked a rock about the size of an apple.

Such was something a bored person would do. However, it was different when the person who did that was the Academy City's number one. He was the strongest known esper around the city.

Even though he only touched the rock without exerting much power, it traveled through the air at a speed no normal human eyes could follow.

It went straight toward its target, which was Misaka-imouto's forehead.

At that speed, one did not have to make any calculations to presume a heavy injury would definitely occur once the rock hit its target.

Misaka-imouto could only widen her eyes in surprise. She knew she was going to die tonight. However, she did not know that she would die this soon. She knew she had no chance against the strongest level 5 there was. She knew the rock would go through her skull, ending her life in an instant. She knew she would not feel any pain or suffering.

But why did she feel this kind of feeling now? Why did she feel that someone would actually save her from her inevitable fate? Was this a normal thing that happened to someone who was about to die?

She did not know the answer of those questions, so she slowly closed her eyes and prepared herself to face death.

* * *

Her attack did not miss its target.

There was no way the Academy City's number three could make a mistake in her aiming, especially when her opponent was a powerless level 0 who did not even make a stance to defend himself.

The lightning ball struck Kamijou Touma's body as he tried to close the distance between him and Mikoto. It hit his left chest, right where his heart was. The high voltage of electric current ran through his entire body.

But this boy was not an ordinary person.

He was someone who had experienced worse things than getting electrocuted. He had fought a fire-using magician who could make thousand-degree flame attacks at will. He had fought an alchemist who could transform his thought into reality. He had even won that fight despite having his right arm sliced off.

And it was proved once more. This time, he got hit by a ball of lightning thrown by a level 5 electromaster. He knew he could negate that last attack by simply raising his right hand. The power of Imagine breaker resided in his right hand could make any kind of attack - other than physical, of course - disappear when it made contact with it. However, he didn't use the Imagine Breaker. He did not raise his hand to prevent being hurt by the attack. Instead, he let it hit him with its full force.

The attack did not render him unconscious, though.

Kamijou attained burn marks all over his body, but he didn't mind those injuries. He was standing perfectly still before starting to advance toward his attacker once again. He still said nothing. The only thing he did was force his shaky legs to keep moving. Step by step, he closed the distance between him and Mikoto.

His gaze met her's as he walked. There was no hesitation in his eyes. The only thing anyone could see was sheer and utter willpower.

He was determined to help her. He wanted to lend his hand, even after she blatantly refused his offer. He did not want this girl to sacrifice her life. He simply wished that the girl before him would not give up everything she had, which of course included her life.

So he ignored the pain and kept moving.

"Stop it! You don't understand! If everyone can be saved with my death, isn't it a wonderful thing?"

She was yelling at him, trying to make him stop. She just wanted to put an end to her problem. She wanted to do it all by herself, not wanting people to get hurt. Why did he keep trying to stop her?

Why did he still want to help her even after she had so badly hurt him just mere moments ago?

Can't he understand her feelings?

Can't he just stop and let her do what she wanted?

Getting overwhelmed by her own emotions, Mikoto's body was soon covered with high-pressured electricity. She couldn't think straight. The words that came out from his mouth turned down every little bit of courage she had mustered before.

_I don't know what your problem was, but please... let me help you._

She needed someone's help. He was the only person who was willing to help her, despite having not fully understood what her problem was.

_Because I care about you._

It was the first time someone said such kind words to her. She was touched by them. She knew he was serious when he said that, and she knew she should have accepted his help in the first place.

However, her ego prevented her asking for help. Her stubbornness made her unable to say that out loud. She would rather take him down in the most unbefitting of situations than allow him to help her.

And, it happened. A large number of thunderbolts struck Kamijou's already-weakened body.

The boy could not keep doing what he had done the previous time. This time, he fell onto the hard asphalt of the iron bridge.

That was the moment when Kamijou Touma lost consciousness.

Seeing the boy not making any movements, Mikoto let out a huge sigh. Though, it was of both relief and regret. She felt relieved because the only obstacle which blocked her way to deal with her problem had now been eliminated. On the other hand, she regretted what she had done to him.

A number of questions appeared on her mind.

What if that last attack killed him? What would have happened if she had accepted his help? Could everything have gotten better if she had? Was her decision the correct one?

Something made Misaka Mikoto stop questioning herself.

It was the scene before her eyes.

She saw the boy who was laying on the ground twitch his fingers. He started regaining consciousness as he used both of his hands to prop his body up. Once he got enough strength to lift his body, he limply walked toward her direction once again.

It took him only a few seconds to close the remaining distance.

"Stop... Stop already," Mikoto said as tears started to form in her brown-colored eyes.

The boy didn't hear her. He had grown tired of listening to her pleas for something he wouldn't do. He knew what he should do and no one was going to stop him from doing it, including her. He would just walking and walking until he reached his goal.

The distance between them after Kamijou had regained consciousness was not like the distance between two enemies. It was not the distance of close friends, either. It was closer than that.

Kamijou stood in front of Misaka Mikoto and suddenly wrapped his arms around her body. He tightly hugged the girl and gave her a few light pats on the back.

_It's warm, _she thought.

However, despite getting such a sudden hug from him, she still had her pride. Her response was predictable. She did the exact same thing any normal girl in her position would do. She widened her eyes and tried to escape from his embrace.

Kamijou did not let her go. He tightened his embrace and said, "Don't worry. Everything will be alright, I promise."

Upon hearing those words, she could not hold her tears back anymore. She let him hug her small figure and started crying like a small child, it having been too much for her to endure any longer. She had been holding the unbearable feelings in her chest for too long, so long that even she didn't know who she was anymore. She knew it was stupid, but she had never told anyone about her problems before.

For those brief moments she was in Kamijou's arms, she thought that for this only moment, she could pour all her feelings out. For now, she just wanted to cry to her heart's content, something she hadn't done for a long time. She did not want to think about her problems; she just wanted to forget all of them for an instant.

However, it did not change the fact that she had unfinished things to do.

"...I must go and stop this," Mikoto said. Although her voice sounded a bit shaky, it was filled with determination. She truly wanted to put an end to the experiment.

Kamijou removed his arms from her and let go. As he did that, he whispered to her ear. "Sure... But, I'm going with you."

Knowing her refusal meant nothing to him, Mikoto could do nothing but nod her head.

Together, they went to the next sister's "kill area."

* * *

Almost a minute had passed since she closed her eyes.

Misaka-imouto was confused.

Why did she still alive? Why did she still have her consciousness?

She should have died by now. It was impossible for human body to take an attack at that speed without receiving any injuries. It was also impossible for Academy City's number one to stop the attack.

Her curiosity got the best of her and she slowly opened her eyes.

Once her brown-colored pupils showed themselves, she saw a person standing before her. It was the boy she met that evening. It was the same person who followed her despite her warnings.

He was standing right in front of her, and the aura around him was not a pleasant one. It wasn't at all like the one he had previously.

Why did he save her? What was his reason to protect her?

She was just a guinea pig used by those scientists. She was only a part of the experiment to shift Accelerator into a level 6. She had no right to be saved. Her life's purpose had already decided the day she was created.

"Oh, come the hell on! What's wrong with you? I'm just trying to have some fun here."

Upon hearing Accelerator's remark, Naruto narrowed his eyes. From the way the boy in front of him spoke, he seemed used to this kind of thing. He looked like a serial killer who was going to take his next kill. But, on the other hand, he also looked like a child who had his toy taken away from him.

How was that even possible?

Naruto had no idea. He just glared at the white boy and asked, "What are you saying? Don't mess around; everyone's life is precious. I'm just trying to help her. There's nothing wrong with that."

Instead of giving Naruto a reply, Accelerator let out a creepy laugh. It sounded like a maniac who just heard the funniest joke in the world. The number one esper had a crazy look on his face as he finally started to speak.

"That sounded like a line from a hero in children's books." He let out a scoff before saying, "As if something like that really exists. The world doesn't work like that. It's filled with a bunch of villains, except each has their own way of thinking."

After he said that, Accelerator used his next attack. This time, he did not use a small rock like before. Instead, using his legs, he sent two unused pieces of railway toward Misaka-imouto's direction.

Those long and heavy objects moved at terrifying speed. It was much faster than the flying rock he sent before. This time, Misaka-imouto did not even have enough time to close her eyes.

However, the heavens seemed to be on her side. With her eyes opened, she saw everything happened during that split of a second.

The two train rails melted, appearing to have been burned by something Mikasa-imouto was unsure of. Before the scorching hot residual liquid reached them, it was evaporated into the air, creating a very large amount of smoke around them.

The boy in front of her did not seem to do anything. However, Misaka-imouto knew it was his doing. Even when being moved at such high speed, it was nigh impossible for the metallic rails to disintegrate like that. This city was well known for its advanced technology. Its superiority among every other place in this world was also applied for things like this. Those were made of a very high-quality metal alloy, something that could withstand practically everything, including incredibly high temperatures.

It was shocking enough for her to see them melted. She still couldn't believe her eyes, them having shown her something impossibly evaporating and all that.

What he just did was definitely not normal. It was easily classified as a level 5's doing, maybe even more.

Just who was this blond boy? Misaka-imouto had tried to find some information about him using Misaka's network, but she could find none. It seemed as if he had no saved data in Academy City's database; or, perhaps, it had been erased for some reason.

"...You," Naruto said with a cold tone. "I don't care if you're number one or anything. I've already told you not to mess with someone's life, but you ignored my words."

"So what? Are you going to stop me? You want to get angry with me? Holding a grudge against me? Try to kill me, maybe?" Accelerator spat out those questions with the same tone he used before. "Tens of thousands have done the same thing, and none of them are alive anymore to feel that way."

As soon as he heard those words pass Accelerator's lips, Naruto did not hold himself anymore. He manipulated the air around him and sent a wave of high-temperature air toward Accelerator's direction. It was hot enough to leave burn marks when it made a contact with human skin.

That kind of attack, however, was futile against Accelerator.

Academy City's number one esper's ability was vector manipulation. He could change any vectors around his body at will. That was how he sped up the movement of the two attacks he did before. He manipulated the object's speed to the max to make such a dangerous, yet easy-to-predict attack.

However, he had one more ability. It was his favorite. Actually, it was not another ability of his. Up until this time, Academy City was not able to create an esper with dual esper abilities. His ability was a derived ability of his vector manipulation.

Reflection.

It was the ability which made Accelerator feared, even among the higher-ups of the city. He was able to reflect most, if not all, attacks launched at him back toward his attacker. Accelerator had reached the point where he didn't need to think, or make any calculations, to use his reflection. It was always active, even when he was asleep.

Even if a nuclear bomb were to fall onto him, he would not die.

That was the Academy City number one, Accelerator.

Seeing an attack being directed at him, Accelerator did nothing. He did not try to stop it, nor did he try to dodge. He let Naruto's attack reach him and just a moment before it touched his body, the wave got reflected and went back toward the blond.

If he were an ordinary person, Naruto would show a shocked expression while having his own attack strike him down.

However, he was different. He had plenty battle experience from his past. He knew everything was possible during a battle. So, getting his attack reflected back at him was not something so shocking for him.

He made the same attack and launched it toward Accelerator. Naruto let the two attacks collide against each other as he wrapped his arm around Misaka-imouto's waist and jumped out of the way.

He did that on purpose. He brought her to a nearby, safe place to stay. Naruto knew a battle with Academy City's strongest was not going to end smoothly. He did not even know if he could defeat his opponent this time. However, he wanted to ensure the girl's safety first.

"Stay here, don't go out." Naruto whispered those words into her ears and immediately afterward, he left the dumbfounded girl alone.

The girl could only watch his back as the blond boy headed to the place where Accelerator was.

"So, you didn't try to run away, huh?" Accelerator asked Naruto when he found out the boy was standing before him again. "Actually, I'd prefer you to run away so I can have some fun hunting you down."

He said that and kicked off the ground. Due his power in manipulating vectors, Accelerator closed the distance between him and Naruto in an instant.

Accelerator swung his fist, aiming for the blond's head.

However, Naruto did not stay still. He dodged the punch and slammed his own into Accelerator's stomach. At such a short distance, the option to dodge or block was not present for the Academy City number one.

That was actually not a good idea.

If he knew about Accelerator's esper power, Naruto would not do that. However, at this moment he still did not know as to what his opponent's power was. And this time, he experienced it himself.

As his fist connected to Accelerator's stomach, a sudden force sent Naruto's body to fly backwards.

The blond felt surprised but did not lose his calm. He flipped his body mid-air and landed with both feet.

Naruto quickly shifted his gaze as to where Accelerator previously was.

...Only to see his opponent had already closed their distance once again. He could only widen his eyes as he saw Accelerator spin his body and send a spinning-kick that hit his stomach, sending him skidding a few meters behind his previous location.

Naruto let out a groan.

It was not because he felt any pain. It was more because of the annoyance he had upon seeing the wicked grin on his opponent's face.

_First, he sent my attack back at me._

Naruto began to analyze his opponent's power.

_And just now, I was sure my punch would hit him but I got hit by an unknown force instead._

He started to understand what Accelerator's power was.

_He could launch that rock, railways, and even his own body at such high speed using only slight amount of force._

As he tried to combine what little information he got from his opponent, Naruto dodged a series of attacks sent by Accelerator toward him.

At first, it was only a barrage of flying train railways like before but, eventually, Accelerator sent larger object like heavy metal containers. They flew toward Naruto and were about to crush his body. However, the blond knew that something so miniscule as flying, heavy metal containers wouldn't kill him.

Naruto raised the temperature around his body and launched himself toward Accelerator. He went through the large metal container as he kept accelerating toward his opponent, leaving a hole about the size of human body on it.

As he bolted toward Accelerator, Naruto pulled his arm back, ready to slam it toward the white boy's head.

Upon seeing such a gesture from Naruto, Accelerator did nothing but let out a wicked smile. He had no intention to dodge his opponent's punch. Just like the one he launched before, it was going to get reflected and send the blond flying backwards.

That was what he thought.

However, Naruto had analyzed his opponent's power by now. He knew his fist would not deal any damage to this person.

Naruto had come to a conclusion about Accelerator's esper ability: speed manipulation and reflection.

Well, only one of them seemed to be correct; though, it was close enough for someone who had just been fighting for few minutes. He thought it was speed manipulation because none of Accelerator's attacks show more than the change of an object's velocity. If Accelerator were to use any other kind of attack, Naruto would have come up with different conclusion. Probably.

* * *

The distance between Accelerator and the unknown blond esper, a person who was able to fight toe-to-toe with the Academy City's strongest, was only five meters.

Misaka-imouto peeked from the place where Naruto left her before. The bottom-half of her body was still hidden behind the large number of metal containers; only the upper-part of her body was visible from the outside.

Naruto had told her not to go out, but she was curious. People often said that curiosity killed the cat, making it fortunate she had not been killed up until this point.

After all, the two combatants seemed to enjoy their fight too much. They weren't paying attention to their surroundings.

Misaka-imouto still had not figured out why the blond saved her life. She could not see any reason behind his actions. He said everyone's lives are precious, but her's and the rest of the sisters' lives weren't. Were they?

At least, that was what she learned from the scientists who had taken part in this experiment. That way of thinking had been implanted to every single Misaka's brain before they were even allowed to begin their own life as mere experimental animals.

That was why she took the liberty to take a peek of this fight.

It was the next moment when she suddenly widened her eyes in surprise.

It was the first time she saw the Academy City's number one, Accelerator, receive a direct hit. On his face, it slammed him into the ground harshly.

_How's that even possible?_ she thought.

"Whoa, that's a cool move."

Misaka-imouto turned her body to the left to see whose voice she heard just now. She was facing two newcomers.

One of them was a black-haired boy, which she identified as one of the many level 0 espers in the city. It seemed he was the one who let out the comment from his mouth. Misaka-imouto did not know what his name was, but she was not going to ask him, especially at this moment.

And for the second person, Misaka-imouto knew her very well.

The girl who was looking at the fight between Accelerator and Naruto while biting her lower lip was Misaka Mikoto.

"'Why does the original come to this place?' asks Misaka as Misaka tilts her head in confusion. 'the original knows she's not suppose to come here in the first place, right?'"

Mikoto turned, facing her "little sister." She looked at her and her stiff expression became softer. A weak smile formed on her small lips as she started opening her mouth and speaking.

"I'm glad you're still alive." Her words, however, made Misaka-imouto confused even more. "Is the annoying blond who's fighting Accelerator the one who saved you?"

"'Yes, he saved Misaka even though Misaka had told him so many times not to get involved with her problem,' says Misaka as she nods her head, agreeing to your assumption. 'Misaka doesn't understand why he did it, though,' says Misaka as she has a questioning look on her face to show her confusion."

Kamijou wanted to ask many questions he had in mind, but held himself from doing so. The fighting scene in front of their eyes had become more interesting. The fact that Mikoto had a clone of herself and to top that off, she had a strange habit of speaking, died off a bit from his current thoughts.

That being said, Kamijou focused his sight to the two boys who were fighting now.

"Kh." Accelerator used his thumb to wipe a trail of blood coming out from the corner of his mouth. "This is the first time I've ever bled because of a fight."

Naruto said nothing upon hearing his words. The blond boy had already known the weakness of his opponent, so he was feeling a bit at ease at this moment. Though, he still stayed alert. The one before him was known as number one. Naruto knew Accelerator must have something else up his sleeve. It was only natural that Accelerator wouldn't be defeated so easily.

Knowing his opponent wouldn't reply, Accelerator continued.

"Interesting. You're able to see past my reflection despite our fight has just started. You're pulling out your fist just a moment before my reflection went off, making me the one who takes damage instead."

Accelerator ended his small explanation. It was only a brief moment before he let out some words that were able to make Naruto freeze on his spot.

"Academy City's first creation is truly an interesting person to have a fight with, so let's take this up a notch."

Naruto's eyes went wide. This person knew something about his past.

How could that be? That was impossible for him to know about his secret. The only possible answer that appeared on Naruto's mind was the board of directors. The group of people who controlled almost everything going inside this city must have told him. They were the ones responsible for everything and anything happened here.

Despite feeling surprised, Naruto did not show much change of expression on his face.

He faced Accelerator and asked, "What do you know?"

"Ku."

Accelerator started laughing. On the other hand, Naruto felt something bad was about to happen.

"Kuka."

Naruto could feel the wind around where they were change. It was as if the night's wind was being controlled by some unknown force.

"Kukaki."

Accelerator's power allowed him to change the vectors of anything he touched. Motion, heat, electricity. Whatever kind of power it was, he could freely control it as long as it had a vector. That meant if he could grasp the vector of the wind flowing through the atmosphere, he could bring the motion of all the wind flowing throughout the entire world into his hands.

"Kukakikekokakakikukekikikokakaka!"

Accelerator lifted his hands above his head. It seemed as if he was trying to touch the moon.

With a roar, the flow of wind started to swirl around his hands. A large atmospheric swirl formed above the boy's head. It looked like a black hole had opened, ready to swallow everything inside the mass of destruction.

Gravel in the area was swept up within it and that giant swirl of destruction let out a joyous cry.

_If he were to throw it – NO! _Naruto shook his head. He knew he could easily avoid being hit by that attack; but, what will happen then? The attack would strike the city and Naruto was sure an attack of that scale would not leave the place unscathed - it would be utterly destroyed, taking many innocent lives together with it.

What should he do? He only held the power to manipulate heat and temperature around himself. He had no defensive techniques to block or even negate the kind of attack Accelerator was about to use.

"Looks like you need a helping hand there," the familiar voice of a certain black-haired boy said. When he turned his body, he realized Kamijou was there, walking in his direction.

Behind Kamijou, Naruto could see two girls who had the exact same appearance looking this way. One of them was Misaka Mikoto and the other was Misaka-imouto. Both of them had worried expressions on their cute faces.

Imagine Breaker.

With that power, Accelerator attack would not deal as much destruction as he would have.

With that power, the wind would die and stop rampaging.

However...

Naruto shook his head as he raised one of his hands, making a "stop" gesture toward the other boy.

"Stay away from this, all of you." It was not a request; it was more of a command for them. There was no hesitation in Naruto's voice. It seemed as if he had planned to do something else to stop the attack of Academy City's number one.

"But," Kamijou tried to retaliate, "I can negate that attack with this right hand of mine. I—"

His words were stopped midway. Naruto looked at the level 0 esper and spoke.

"You will die if you were to try that," he said. "Look."

Naruto used his index finger to point the huge spherical wind above Accelerator's head. It was growing larger and larger by the second. As the wind swirled, it sucked up gravel, bench, railway, and even the large metal containers started moving, though it was only slightly.

Kamijou did not need further explanation from Naruto. He knew he could only negate supernatural attacks. He could not negate physical attacks. The objects that were being sucked into the giant atmospheric swirl would directly hit his body if he stopped the wind, which was preventing them from falling to the ground.

Naruto's words were correct. He would die if he used his right hand there. His body could possibly withstand the gravel, but not with those railways.

So, he could do exactly nothing in this dire situation.

_Damn it, _Kamijou thought as he stopped his movement. _Isn't there anything else I can do at this moment!?_

Too bad. It was too late for him to think about different solution.

Accelerator laughed and yelled, "DIE!"

* * *

That was the last word they heard before everything went into chaos.

As the big swirl of violent wind being launched, it left a trail of destruction behind.

There was less than 10 meters distance between Accelerator and Naruto. Accelerator's wind attack flew at 120 meters per second. At that speed, having catastrophic building failures would be the most fortunate result. Most likely, it was not going to happen. The Academy City number one excelled in killing, destroying, and crushing things into nothingness.

The attack only needed a fraction of a second to reach Naruto's body.

However, the blond boy was not blown away by, nor did he get sucked into it.

Naruto held both of his arms in front of him, trying to stop the movement of Accelerator's attack.

Kamijou, Mikoto, Misaka-imouto, and even Accelerator were surprised, but they quickly get back into their senses. They could see Naruto's palms emitted an unknown reddish-orange glow which they had not seen before. Actually, to be precise, none of them had ever seen him in action.

None of them knew what Naruto was doing, but whatever it was, it seemed to be able to slow down the movement of Accelerator's attack.

However, the attack was still too strong for him to stop instantly; Naruto got pushed back by the tremendous force of the swirling wind and was skidding backwards.

As he was trying his best to prevent the attack from destroying the city behind him, beads of sweat began to form on his face.

He knew he could stop it, though. Or, rather, he could slow it down to the point it would not damage the surrounding _that _bad. He just hoped he had enough time to do that.

He never tried to do this before, but it looked like it was working. He just used the most basic physics knowledge he had about air and its moving form, wind.

Wind is generated by moving air, and the air could only move when there was a difference in temperature between two places.

Naruto's esper power was heat and temperature manipulation; hence, by manipulating the temperature of the air around the spherical wind attack, he theoretically could stop the wind completely.

However, it was not that simple.

He needed to calculate the exact temperature needed to slow down and eventually stop the raging wind. And he must do that during every single moment of its movement to prevent from becoming unstable and blowing everything around it - including he himself.

Although it seemed to be easy enough for him to do, it was not. There was another obstacle for him in doing so; it was Accelerator.

The white-haired albino boy, too, must be put into calculation. After all, it was due his esper power the wind was created in the first place. Who said he did nothing after he launched that attack? Even when he had done with his calculation to create the attack, Accelerator was still controlling it from afar.

That being said, even if it looked like Naruto was the only person who did something to the attack, he was actually not.

It was a battle between two espers who was fighting using their mind to calculate and try to take control over that destructive force.

If one were to lose their concentration - even a slightest bit - the result would be obvious.

Since it took too much of their mind, both of them could not make any other attack to gain advantage over their opponent. They couldn't divide their attention to do something like that. They needed to use every single one of their brain cells to win this fight.

However, it seemed one of them had already had the advantage. Since Accelerator was getting farther and farther from the attack, it became harder for him to calculate. On the other hand, Naruto was making a direct contact with it, so he could predict what he needed to do next more easily.

Eventually, the sound stopped. The wind died. The atmosphere between them fell into silence.

Every single thing that was being sucked into the wind had fallen to the ground.

There was a distance of slightly more that 30 meters between Naruto and Accelerator. The blond had been pushed that far, but he seemed to still being able to continue their fight.

Even though that last attack had finally stopped, the winner had not been decided. Both of them still had stamina left to continue.

It was Accelerator who finally broke the silence.

"You're amazing!" All of them heard Accelerator's voice. "You're really fucking amazing!"

As Accelerator howled at the night sky, he ran forward, clenching his fist in order to crush Naruto.

Both of his hands could kill with just a touch. Once he made a contact with his opponent's body, Accelerator could use his vector manipulation to reverse the blood flow inside his opponent's body. It was an instant kill that should be called a cheating technique if this were a game. However, in reality, that was his power; nothing could stop him now.

Naruto, too, clenched his fist. He knew this was the deciding moment of their fight. He ran forward, ready to put an end to all of this.

As the distance between them closed, time seemed like stopping.

One of them had the ability to kill his opponent with a single touch.

The other one had completely understood the weakness of his opponent's defense.

Both had the same winning chance against each other.

The Academy City's strongest swung his fist. His aim was Naruto's head. He accelerated the motion vector of his own hand so he would be the one who make the first hit.

As he made his attack, Accelerator averted his glance slightly. That instant, he saw his opponent's fist was still farther away from his head.

He smiled.

He won this fight.

In the end, he was the winner.

That was his thought before he realized something. As he finally reached the blond's head, his fist went through it.

_Damn optical illusion!_ Accelerator cursed inside his mind. _Even at this deciding moment, you're still a step farther than me, NARUTO!_

The next instant, Accelerator's body slammed onto the ground.

The Academy City's number one didn't move. He was unconscious.

Kamijou, Mikoto, and Misaka-imouto - all three of them ran toward him as they were aware it was already safe for them to do so.

The fight between two strongest espers in Academy City had just ended.

Naruto waved his hand and gave them a big smile before looking up into the sky. He still had many things to do. There were still many unanswered questions in his head.

His fight had not ended, yet.

* * *

End of chapter.

This chapter has been beta read by: Mon Esprit Libre.

A/N: Finally, I finished this chapter. Sorry it takes longer than usual since I also update my other fic, which is Naruto x RosarioVampire crossover - if you want to, you can find it on my profile page.

See you next chapter!

Beta/N: Sorry this took forever, readers. I got lazy. :x


	7. Chapter 7

"Are you serious!?" A girl's voice resounded in the small, yet well-ordered, room. While asking the question, she used a slightly higher tone than her usual calm and refined one. Her face showed disbelief, an expression that she rarely had.

"Did you just question my order, Kanzaki?"

Instead of getting a reply, she got a question thrown back at her. The question, however, was not a question that need to be answered. It was more of a direct command from a superior to a subordinate, one to do what they had been ordered to do.

Kanzaki Kaori closed her eyes for a moment. The tall eighteen-year old girl with long black hair tried to calm herself down.

She had never expected to hear that order from _her _of all people.

The person she was talking with was the leader of the organization she belonged to: Necessarius.

Laura Stuart.

The owner of such a name was an enigmatic person in Kanzaki Kaori's book. She always had a hard time understanding what was actually going inside the blonde Archbishop's head. It seemed that this time, too, she wasn't able to follow her thoughts.

Actually, the order was not something she had never done before, nor was it an order which contradicted with her beliefs. If those were the cases, it would be easy to explain the question she let out in surprise before.

Unfortunately, it wasn't.

But still...she felt something was wrong with the order.

As she pondered about how to make the Archbishop explain more of the odd order to her, Kanzaki Kaori heard Laura speak.

"...a look at this." The blonde pulled out a piece of paper from her pink-colored robe and passed it to her subordinate's hand.

Upon receiving the paper, which actually was a letter, Kaori began to read it. Her expression remained the same as she read it carefully, word by word. But that was only until she reached the bottom part of it.

Her eyes widened considerably. She didn't know how it was possible. It was something unheard of.

For the first time in her life, Kanzaki Kaori was at loss for words.

Seeing the shocked expression on her face, Laura Stuart began to explain.

"As you can see, that's a legal document signed by Her Highness. Now that you've read it yourself, will you still question my order?"

She really wanted to, but she couldn't.

If it was merely an order from the Archbishop of Necessarius, she knew she could manage to skip out on it somehow. Maybe she could make an excuse or suggest for her to pass down the order to someone else.

However, if that order was approved by the British Queen herself, could she deny it?

Of course not.

She must do it, whether she liked it or not. There was nothing she could do but to follow the order.

"I will." Those two were the only words came out from her mouth. She was still reluctant, but since it was an order from the Queen, she had to act accordingly.

Laura nodded her head.

"Good answer." A smile formed on her small lips as she continued saying, "I know you're a reliable person who always does her job seriously, but..."

Her voice trailed off as she paused her small speech for a moment.

"...I want you not to hold back this time. I want you to use all your strength and come back here as soon as possible after you finished the job."

"Why?" Kaori asked her superior, only to receive a puzzled look from her. "You seem worried, and I know it's not me who you have that feeling for."

Upon hearing her question, Laura's face stiffened, even if so little.

That was an unexpected question. She was well aware she had reached the point where no one could read her; be it bodily gestures, facial expressions, or her way of speaking. None of those could be used to read her thoughts.

Well, that only left one more thing.

Intuition.

It was something no matter how hard she tried to, she won't be able to escape from.

However, being an Archbishop, Laura made a bigger smile and spoke.

"That's so considerate of you, thinking about me like that, but rest assured, I'm not feeling worried or anything. I just want everything to end smoothly, so I suggest you to concentrate your mind into your mission." She paused for a moment. "After all, this is something only you can do. I don't think we have any other person in our organization who is capable of doing this."

Kaori knew she was lying and trying to stir her mind elsewhere. Fortunately, she already prepared herself a counter-measure.

"This is so unlike you." She turned her body and walked few steps toward the exit. "Why don't you start being honest, if only to your self?"

Without looking back, Kanzaki Kaori opened the door and stepped out from the room, leaving the Archbishop with an unreadable expression on her face.

Since she had already left the room, there was no way Kaori could see it. However, she did not have to. Even if she saw her expression, she knew Laura would just deny it and make another excuse, just like how she usually did.

As she exited the room, Kanzaki Kaori saw Stiyl Magnus leaning his body on the wall. It looked like he was waiting for her.

"Let's go," Stiyl said, ignoring the confusion on her face.

"What do you mean by 'let's go'? She just gave me a mission which I must finish as soon as possible, and it's not like I have made an appointment to see you, either."

Stiyl furrowed his brow and said, "It means exactly as you heard it." He paused for a moment before adding additional information. "I'm going to Academy City, too."

His answer surprised her.

"I believe my mission is a solo. Why would you come with me then?"

Upon hearing her question, Stiyl carelessly shrugged his shoulders. He turned his body and began walking through the alleyway.

"She gave me a mission, too. You can say our missions are related to each other."

"Okay, I understand that first part." Kaori began to walk beside the tall magician as she spoke. "But what did you mean by saying our missions are related to each other?"

"Hmm... So she didn't explain it to you." Stiyl lit up his cigarette, inhaled deeply, then let out white smoke from his mouth. He then started explaining. "I know your mission is to kill that boy if possible, or at least incapacitate him. That's really a hard task she has given you." He stopped speaking, shifting his glance at Kaori. "Although I don't understand the reason behind it, I think there's something between him and our Archbishop."

"And your point?"

Stiyl let out a sigh. He knew the girl beside him already knew, but chose not to say anything about it. He decided to go along with it.

"You know what I was talking about. Anyway, about my mission..." His voice trailed off as he looked into the distance.

As she waited him to continue his dialogue, Kanzaki Kaori could see the expression on Stiyl's face become stiff. It was unknown to her as to what the reason was, but she didn't have to ask him about it.

"...I was sent to retrieve that child back here."

Without any need for Stiyl to explain any further, Kaori knew who he was referring to. After all, just like Stiyl, she was also that child's partner in the past.

It didn't take long before a question appeared in her mind.

_Dealing with this Naruto of the science faction and retrieving Index and bringing her back to Necessarius? Just what are you thinking, Laura?_

* * *

Today was not a good day for Misaka Mikoto.

She stomped her feet continuously as she walked out from her school dorm. People who were passing by didn't have to ask the girl to understand just how bad her mood was.

Actually, they had better not ask her about it - that is, unless they want to get an afro from electrical shock. The atmosphere around her was enough to make people think twice before getting near the number three.

The reason of her unusual behavior was due to what happened last night.

It wasn't like she got blamed for something she didn't do, or anything else like that. It was more of because she came back _waaay_ past the dorm's curfew.

Last night, on her way to sneakily get into her room without anyone noticing, Mikoto had a fateful encounter with _her_ - the legendary super-scary dorm supervisor who was a strict lady with twisted personality.

No one dare to directly call her that, though.

Because she broke the rule, Misaka Mikoto had to receive her punishment from the dorm lady.

Other than getting her body hurt after being thrown into concrete wall - without any chance to retaliate, of course - the entire day, Mikoto was stuck with cleaning duty.

That was where she got her bad mood.

It was better to leave that alone and not to think back about it.

Today, even though the summer holiday had not ended yet, Mikoto was wearing her school uniform. The school applied that rule to each and every one of their students. It was unknown why, but Misaka Mikoto followed the rule obediently.

After all, she didn't want to get another punishment from the dorm's supervisor. She might end up with something worse than she already had.

It was already late in the afternoon and the road was dyed orange. However, Mikoto paid no attention for those trivial matters. She needed to go somewhere. It was her fault that the person who helped her ended up in hospital.

Last night, after the problem with Accelerator settled down, a certain spiky-haired boy suddenly collapsed onto the floor. Unfortunately, the reason he suddenly fainted was her.

No matter how strong-willed Kamijou Touma was, getting his body struck by not only one, but_ two_ lightning attacks from the strongest level 5 Electromaster took a toll of his body.

_He shouldn't force himself in the first place! What did he think his body is made of? Some kind of electron absorber? How stupid of him, taking my lightning spear head on!_

As she remembered how badly that boy was injured from her lightning attacks, it was only natural for her to think back about their meeting last night.

She had prepared herself to face the worst case scenario if she were to fight Accelerator by herself.

_But that idiot... He stopped me and said those unnecessary things!_

Her movement stopped for a moment as she thought some more.

_And I never gave him a permission to hug me! I need to get him back for that!_

Although the number three said it in such a way, she could feel her face grow hotter for some reason. There wasn't a way she could have told, but her cheeks were now red.

As Misaka Mikoto was about to shook her head in order to chase away those thoughts from her mind...

"ONEE-SAMA!"

A high-pitched yell from above woke her up from reverie. She looked up to see the source of the voice, which she already knew very well. Almost like the back of her hand, in fact.

Three meters above her, a girl wearing the Tokiwadai Middle School uniform suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Her auburn hair, which she kept in two curly pigtails, swayed behind her as she fell toward Mikoto's direction.

If this hadn't been Academy City, the appearance of someone from seemingly thin air would be classified as something worth being put on the front page of the newspaper with a big headline. But. of course, this city was not normal in the first place. While having such large number of espers scattered around the city, it was not hard to guess this girl had some sort of teleportation ability.

However, there was still something odd there.

The falling girl's arms were spread wide and her lips pursed. For some reasons, she had a joyous expression on her face.

_...Scary, _Mikoto thought as she she slightly moved her body to the right, avoiding the falling girl.

BAM!

The loud voice was enough to draw nearby bystanders' attention, but failed to make them gather around. For those who had lived in Academy City, even if only for a while, seeing such things happen was practically an everyday occurrence. Unless it was something extremely extraordinary, it was almost impossible to surprise them anymore.

"What are you doing here, Kuroko?" Mikoto asked the girl who was pitifully kissing the concrete brick, putting both hands on her waist as she leaned her body forward.

From her uniform, it was obvious that she was one of the students from the same school Mikoto went to; and from the way she called her 'Onee-sama,' it wasn't hard to guess she was but one of Mikoto's underclassmen.

While still laying face down, the girl known as Shirai Kuroko began mumbling under her breath.

"I should've known I couldn't take Onee-sama lightly. It was even proved, since my surprise kiss attack failed to work on her." She paused for a moment, seemingly pondering about something. She nodded her head few times before saying, "I should stick with my original plan to sneak into her bed, and everything else will progress smoothly afterward."

_..._

Mikoto's eye twitched upon hearing that short mumble. A tick mark appeared on her temple as bluish-white lightning started crackling around her bangs. Without any warnings, a spear purely made of lightning found its way toward Kuroko's small figure.

Or, rather, the place where she should have been.

The girl with two long ponytails had teleported herself to avoid getting hit by the sudden attack.

The level 4 teleporter who stood a distance away from Number Three spoke while covering her mouth with one hand.

"Fufufu~ you can't possibly think I'll fall to such an obvious attack, can you, Onee-sama?"

Mikoto let out a small groan upon hearing her response, "Kuroko... Just tell me what are you doing here."

Not wanting to make her beloved Onee-sama get angry with her, Kuroko teleported her body next to Mikoto and started explaining.

"I was heading back to the dorm after finishing today's work as a member of Judgement while thinking about what method I could use to surely make Onee-sama feel -"

Kuroko forcibly stopped herself as she felt ominous aura coming from Mikoto. Her expression grew darker, as if saying, "Just get to the point if you don't want to get a fine taste electrocution."

"A-anyway, I saw you were going out somewhere. Since today isn't the usual day you're going out to grab your favorite manga, I couldn't help but feel curious about it."

"Hm, I guess you're right."

Kuroko noticed the dangerous aura around her roommate had disappeared the moment she said that.

"That surprise kiss attack wasn't well-planned, so it's natural for it to fail like that. Next time, I promise it will be something -"

"There won't be next time, Kuroko!"

"I was only trying to cheer up Onee-sama's mood because she started acting strange since she got back last night."

Upon hearing Kuroko's words, Mikoto had a questioning look on her face. She did not understand how last night's events could have made her act differently from before.

It was true that she felt somehow relieved since the problem with Accelerator and her sisters had concluded. However, she still didn't know whether the project had been stopped or not. She hoped it had been, but no one knew how the higher-ups of Academy City viewed things. They might use the military sisters to join in some other experiments, so her mission to free all of them had not ended yet.

She actually believed she made no changes whatsoever.

Of course, that logic didn't work on Shirai Kuroko.

The level 4 put one finger on her face while looking up into the sky, seemingly recalling something.

"Usually when Onee-sama sleeps, she has a frown on her forehead, as if she was having a bad dream or thinking about complicated things. But last night, she didn't." She paused for a moment before continuing. "And strangely, she gave that enviable gekota pillow a tight hug while blushing. It almost looks like..."

Her voice trailed off, so Mikoto tilted her head and gave her a short, "Hmm?"

"...a maiden in love."

"Gbfhh!?"

Kuroko grabbed both of the flustered level 5's hands and looked straight into her eyes with serious expression.

"Please tell me that isn't correct, Onee-sama. But if it were, then I have to know who the person who is a step forward of me is. I need to make sure my position is irreplaceable and give some punishment for trying to take Onee-sama away from me."

"W-what are you talking about!? Stop spouting nonsensical assumptions like that!"

_I'm in love!? With that idiot out of all people? Impossible!_

_So my position is safe... What a relief, but it doesn't mean I can slack off. I must ensure that Onee-sama's heart belongs to me and me only, fufufu~_

In the end, Mikoto finally remembered what she was doing in the first place.

"Oh, I need to hurry! Sorry, Kuroko, I'll meet you later!"

She was about to leave the other girl, but she was stopped.

"Wait, Onee-sama." Once the short-haired esper turned her attention back at her, Kuroko said, "If you need to hurry, isn't it faster if you use my power?"

Shirai Kuroko's esper power was teleportation. It was possibly the most convenient power a student might want to have. Just imagine all the things one could do with such ability.

"That's true, but..."

_I don't want you to come with me._ That was the continuation of the words that Mikoto stopped herself from saying.

"Just leave it to me, Onee-sama." Kuroko puffed up her chest as if trying to show off. Nothing in that area was worth being shown off, though. Ignoring that, Kuroko grabbed her roommate's hand and said, "Just tell me which place you want to visit and I'll make sure you arrived there in no time."

"W-well, I was planning to visit this hospital, and..."

"Got it."

Without giving Mikoto a chance to finish her sentence, Kuroko used her power to teleport both of them toward a certain hospital.

With her current state, Kuroko was only able to teleport up to a distance of 81.5 meters from herself. However, if it was done repeatedly, longer distance meant nothing at all.

* * *

_Such misfortune._

Kamijou said that to himself as he noticed the displeased look Index gave him the moment Miska Mikoto and another girl from Tokiwadai, whom he had never seen before, entered his hospital room, which became rather crowded because of it.

"Touma, why is the short-haired girl here!? And why is another girl that I don't even know here!?"

"Would you spare my head from getting another bite if I said I don't know the reason either?"

That comment successfully allowed Kamijou get away from Index's question, but it didn't mean he was safe.

"What!? How inconsiderate can you be? I come all the way here because I thought you were yet to recover from your injuries, but I don't even get a 'hello'?"

To make things become more hectic, Shirai Kuroko commented: "So you're the person who is a step ahead of me in a contest to win Onee-sama's heart?"

And of course, there was also a certain girl dressed in a miko outfit who said nothing, but she had a dark aura surrounding her.

Ignoring the chaos which involved a single boy being bitten several times, getting struck by a couple of lightning spears, receiving a series of kicks and punches from a member of judgement, as well as being glared from aside, the last occupant of Kamijou Touma's hospital room remained calm and merely watched the scene without having any intentions to help him at all.

"Hey Naruto, stop grinning and help _meeee_!"

"Huh? But people say you reap what you sow. In fact, you should consider yourself lucky being surrounded by beautiful girls. Maybe you should start thinking about making a harem?"

His words succeed making the four girls stopped what they were doing. However, just when Kamijou was about to let out a sigh of relieve,

"Touma, what is a harem?"

"Y-y-you! You really are thinking about that, aren't you!?"

"I should arrest him and ensure the safety of Onee-sama's and the other girls' chastity from this monster..."

"I should've known before."

...

Somehow, the room-turned-battlefield fell silent.

The reason behind it was because the girls had finally calmed down, and three of them had already left the room and went home.

Only Naruto, Kamijou and Index were left.

"Come on Index, let's go." said Naruto.

_...?_

The nun tilted her head in confusion, as if asking why she must go.

"Visiting hours are almost over. I'll accompany you going home."

"Don't wanna..." Index shook her head like a little child. "I want to stay here."

The silver-haired girl stated her objection. At that moment, Kamijou finally began to speak.

"But you aren't allowed to, the hospital has such a rule, you know?" He then continued with a mutter, "I just don't want to get into more trouble because you insist to do something against the rules."

"...Touma is so cold like always."

Knowing there was no better way to make Index followed his suggestion, Naruto made a small deal with her. "How about this? I'll buy you some food on the way home."

In the end, that was all it take to convince the nun. Immediately after she heard the word 'food,' stars appeared on her pupils, showing how much she was looking forward having delicious food, all for herself.

The hospital was near from Kamijou Touma's dorm. It was only a fifteen to twenty minute walk, depending on how fast they went.

Naruto and Index had just exited the hospital's main entrance and made their way toward their destination. Naruto was not lying when he said he would treat the nun. However...

"Finally, I've been waiting here like forever."

"Who are you? And what do you want?" Naruto asked while narrowing his eyes upon seeing the person grab her two-meter-long nodachi that had been resting on the wall.

"Well, I think it's only appropriate if I tell you that. My name is Kanzaki Kaori."

As the tall girl responded to his question, Naruto noticed the girl beside him step back, her eyes wide open. Her body trembled.

"Do you know her, Index?"

She nodded her head twice and warily said, "...She is the person who chased after me and even sliced my back open before leaving me. I almost died due to blood loss."

Although what Index said was true, Kaori felt a twinge in her heart. It pained her on the inside to be remembered in such bad light by the girl who was once her partner in Necessarius.

Actually, the event that happened a while ago which involved Index getting severely injured by her attack was an accident. She did not hesitate to use her sword on her because she assumed the walking church - the name of Index's nun habit - would protect her from such attack. Of course, she made that assumption because she did not know Kamijou had touched her with his right hand, which had made Index's nun habit lose its functionality.

However, even if Kaori told her what happened back then was actually like that, neither Index nor Naruto would believe her. They would most likely make a conclusion that she was telling a lie. For that very reason, she chose not to say anything about it and kept the truth for herself.

"Stay back, Index," Naruto told the girl, who immediately followed his words and hid herself in a nearby alley. After making sure Index had moved far enough to not get wrapped into the fight that was about to happen, the blond esper turned his gaze toward Kaori. "I don't know who exactly you are but someone who mercilessly swings down her sword on pure girl like Index could be anything_but_ good."

Kanzaki Kaori narrowed her eyes. Her sharp gaze met Naruto's.

"How ironic to hear those words coming from you. I'm afraid a lecture from someone who did worse things in the past means nothing for me."

Naruto didn't reply to that. He was indeed not a good person, either. Just like how she portraited it, he had done bad things twenty years ago. No, he had done such unforgivable things that nothing could possibly redeem himself.

"True, but that doesn't make it okay to do bad things just because someone else has done worse than you." He threw a glance toward Index direction to make sure she was in a safe distance away. "Okay, what do you want?"

Kaori put one hand on her hip and smiled.

If Naruto was not in a position when a fight could start at any time, he might think that gesture was somehow attactive. After all, the person who did it was a girl wearing a short white T-shirt which she tied into a knot in the bottom, revealing her navel. The fact that the same girl had beautiful face and a pair of huge breasts didn't help at all.

"I have two purposes, actually. The first one is to eliminate a threat, namely you, while the other one had already accomplished the moment you told that child to stay back."

Naruto instantly realized what she meant and turned his body toward the alley where Index had hid herself a moment before.

Behind her stood a familiar figure of the red-haired magician whom he had met during Misawa Cram School incident. He never considered that person an ally, but he had never thought that person would turn to be an enemy, either.

Stiyl Magnus was about to use his right hand to karate-chop the back side of Index's neck when Naruto immediately took action.

He manipulated the air temperature around his body to help him move faster than normal human and bolted toward Index's direction. Their distance was merely few meters, that was like they were standing next to each other when someone moved in supersonic speed.

However, before he could even cover about a half of that distance, sharp pain ran through his back. He didn't have to turn his head to understand it was the other girl who used her two-meter-long weapon that didn't suit her to attack him while he left his back open.

Naruto's movement drastically slowed down. Due to his movement lag, he could see Stiyl render the small girl unconscious using his hand only.

"Shit! Index!"

However, his shout didn't reach the girl's ear. The nun had lost consciousness and the red-haired magician had wrapped his hands around her small body, preparing to take her away for a reason he didn't know.

Of course, he was not going to let him got away so easily. He needed to think a safe way to save Index from their hands without accidentally hurt her as well.

"That child isn't going to be hurt more than that, so worry not." Naruto heard Kaori's voice from right behind him. He immediately became alert and moved his body just in time before she managed to stab him with her sword. After being dodged, the weapon hit the ground, creating a huge shockwave as hit. "You should worry more about yourself now."

She skillfully used the weapon, swinging several times in rapid succession as it swung over her due to its height.

As Naruto jumped back to avoid a direct hit, he tried to apply heat on his opponent's weapon. He intended to make it become hot enough it would melt and become unusable in battle.

However, that was only his expectation.

Nothing happened to the sword no matter how hard he tried to melt it.

"Unlike some idiots, who charged without thinking beforehand, I've analyzed your power before heading here." She raised her nodachi without much effort and prepared her next attack. "Therefore, I applied heat-protection magic to this shichiten shichitou and my own body."

Naruto understood his current situation very well. He hated to admit it, but he was at disadvantage here. His opponent wielded a two-meter-long weapon, which meant she had an advantage in close distance combat.

Another option he could have used was his esper power, the one that was able to manipulate the heat and temperature around him. However, that option was also not possible because of the heat-resistance magic she used, since it prevented him from doing any harm.

While forcing his brain cells to think of a way to deal with his disadvantageous position, Naruto asked his opponent to buy some time: "Who sent you here? Since you're coming with him, my guess is that you belong to Necessarius, correct?"

Even before she met him, Kanzaki Kaori had thought a question like this would come. Therefore, she could respond to his question readily.

"Oh? Wasting some time for some idle chat, aren't we?" She stopped attacking but kept her sword ready to use at any moment, "But I don't mind to tell you just that. In fact, it might be a little help for me if you get distracted after hearing my answer."

She paused for a moment to analyze how the boy react to her words but got nothing in return. Her opponent stood a few meters away from her, seemingly thinking about something, but made no suspicious moves.

"It is your friend who gave me this mission." She smiled before adding some additional information. You might not know about this, but she is an Archbishop now."

Naruto thought about the unclear information he was told. A name appeared in his mind but he couldn't be sure if he didn't ask for a confirmation.

"If this person you're talking about is Laura Stuart, which I'm pretty sure she is, then I have something to tell you." He prepared himself to engage her in a battle again. "We are not friends."

He once again manipulated the air temperature around his body to help him move faster. This time, Naruto made sure he put all his power into it so he wouldn't get intercepted in the way just like before.

His target, however, was not the girl he was talking with just now.

When he was talking with Kaori, Naruto had analyzed other options he might have. He could continue fighting Kaori while waiting for an opening or by wearing her down, but those were not a good choices. He considered it as a waste of time, so he threw aside that option without any further thinking.

He also had another option to make the protection spell she used to break by sending overwhelming power into it. Actually, that was the very thing he did twenty years ago when facing magicians who used similar techniques in the war. However, this time he could not do the same, because if he were to send overwhelming power to his surroundings, other buildings around him would also take damage.

And it just so happened that a hospital was only few dozen meters away behind him. A certain spiky-haired boy was there, too. Naruto would not want to explain to Index that he accidentally roasted Kamijou and a few hundred other people in the hospital to save her from two magicians that were trying to kidnap her.

Of course, for that reason, he needed to think of another way to deal with this problem.

His opponent had stated it herself that one of the pair's objectives was to capture Index unharmed. Therefore, saving her from them should be enough to interrupt their plan for now. He could hide Index somewhere and lure the magicians to an empty area within the city before dealing with them.

With that thought in mind, Naruto made his move. He launched himself toward the unconscious Index in hope he could probably pull off his plan.

Just when he was about to reach the girl in white nun habit -

"Sorry, but I can't let you do that."

Kanzaki Kaori had read his thoughts and stood before him. Even though she was a bit slower, Kanzaki Kaori was closer to Index and Stiyl at the time. Therefore, by predicting his next move, she had taken advantage of her position in their fight.

If she were someone else, she might not be able to keep up with him. However, Kanzaki Kaori was born as a gifted child. She was one of the fewer-than-twenty people in the world who was born wielding the power of saint.

She could easily move at supersonic speed, had tremendous strength, and possessed great intelligence, as well as fast-processing thinking.

The fact that she also has a nice body only added more points for her.

Simply put, she was not normal. Naruto just realized this the moment she appeared before him. At this speed, it would be fatal if he made even a slight mistake.

Just as the two was about to clash against each other, several gunshots were heard.

Both Naruto and Kaori jumped backward, since they had no idea who was the newcomer's target.

Slightly thereafter, a familiar voice came from nearby alleyway.

"I hope you don't mind if I join the fun, nya~"

* * *

Tsuchimikado Motoharu.

This name belongs to a boy who was but one of Anglican Church's magicians. Strangely, he was also a known level 0 esper of Academy City. Not only that, this person was also one of Kamijou Touma's close friends in a certain high school. Moreover, he had been working as a spy for both the science and magic side.

No one knew where he truly affiliated himself with. However, this "Tsuchimikado" surely had a huge burden on his shoulder.

It was not as simple as dealing with all of those positions he had himself stuck with. No, it was much more complicated than that. Though, saying it was easy to deal with such a complicated role was like saying it was easy to find someone in a cramped place full of people.

Tsuchimikado Motoharu had only one task to do.

However, this was not an easy task that anyone could do. Any other person beside him might have already given up before they actually done something. It was simply because of how huge of a scale he job he was dealing with was.

The main objective was to maintain a peaceful atmosphere between the magic and science side.

If one were to think about it, that was actually not a possible thing to do. There was a fundamental difference between those two. Neither of them would want to walk side-by-side. Each of them wanted to eliminate the other party, if possible.

That statement was proven twenty years ago when a clash between the magic and science side happened. Having a world war was an inevitable situation at that point. Actually, it could become worse than that. Who knew what could happen if they didn't stop their fight?

It was unknown who started it, nor who ended it, but in the end, both sides decided to make a compromise. Of course, both of them had not accepted each other. It was simply because neither of them wanted world destruction. That was the reason as to why they made this agreement:

Neither side will commit an attack toward each other without a solid reason to do so.

Although it was made by the higher-ups of both sides, that kind of agreement sounded childish. It was like an agreement made by two little children who fight for a scoop of ice cream and stopped because their parents told them to do so. There was a high chance - no, it was certain at some point they would start a fight again, given enough reasons.

His job was to prevent that kind of thing from happening. It was just what kind of person Tsuchimikado Motoharu was.

"What's with those looks!? I know I came late, but that's not really an important matter, right?" Tsuchimikado asked with big grin.

Instead of getting an answer, he got a dangerous look from the long-haired girl who was still holding her weapon at this moment.

"What are you doing?" Kanzaki Kaori pointed the tip of sichiten sichitou toward his direction. "You don't have any privilege to stop me from doing my job."

Other than being a saint, which more or less ensure her chance of success while doing missions, Kanzaki Kaori had always hardened her heart before she started doing any job. Being in the same organization with her, she knew who Tsuchimikado Motoharu was. Actually, their friendship could be said a pretty close one, even though they almost never did a mission together.

Still in his usual carefree attitude, Tsuchimikado replied.

"Oi, oi Kanzaki-nee-chin you don't have to be so combative." The boy took off his stylish sunglasses and put them into his pocket. "Actually, this is also part of my job, so it's perfectly fine for me to interfere your mission."

That was the moment when Naruto suddenly spoke up his thought.

"Who are you?"

All of them had thought Naruto would use the opportunity created by Tsuchimikado's arrival to his advantage and take Index back from Stiyl, yet such question was the one that came out from his mouth.

Tsuchimikado turned his body to face the other blond, completely ignoring the fact that he left his back open.

"Hmm, so you're the infamous person feared by people from magic side." His words made Naruto feel uneasy, since this person seemed to know something about his past and was able to say it with such a blatant tone. "Of course, it's the first time we meet each other but you don't look like a villain at all. My name is Tsuchimikado Motoharu, by the way."

"Now that you've introduced yourself properly, will you step aside and let me finish him off?" Kaori cut off their conversation.

"Nope, can't do." Tsuchimikado once again turned to face Kaori. "You know what my job entails. Only after my job is nullified will I let you do that."

As the two glared at each other, Naruto asked another question.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I will retrieve Index back right this instant."

BANG!

A gunshot from Tsuchimikado struck the gap between Naruto's feet.

"That's something I can't let you do, either," he said.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and said, "Say, Tsuchimikado, isn't it? Whose side are you standing for?"

Upon hearing the question, Tsuchimikado just shrugged his shoulders.

"What if I tell you I don't stand for either of you?" he said before continuing. "My job is to ensure a war between the science and magic faction doesn't happen. For that reason, I can't let Kanzaki-nee-chin to kill you, because it will violate the agreement between two sides and therefore, it would most certainly start another world war."

"So you're on his side!" Kaori yelled as she still pointing the tip of her sword forward.

"As I said before, I'm not siding myself with him, either," Tsuchimikado said offhandedly. "As long as you don't continue to attack this 'Naruto', an esper from Academy City, I won't hold you back from bringing Index back to England."

Naruto eyes widened upon hearing that statement.

No matter from which perspective he looked at it, this situation was certainly not working to his favor. Although his safety was ensured, Index's was not, and he couldn't allow that to happen.

However, before he could make another move, Tsuchimikado spoke.

"The rule applies to you, too. If you forcibly take what originally belongs to the magic side, you will be risking the world peace. Whether you like it or not, Index is part of Necessarius. It's only because they haven't sent out an official order to retrieve her back that she could live here temporarily." Tsuchimikado looked directly into Naruto's eyes and asked, "Will you let people around the world suffer from having a war undoubtedly of greater scale from what you've seen before? Can you really do that because of a single girl you only knew for few days? What's your connection with Index, anyway? Nothing, right? If there is one person to save her, it's Kamijou, not you."

Naruto fell into silence after hearing that statement.

However, Tsuchimikado didn't stop there.

"By the way, don't you have a plan to go to England in the first place? Don't give me that look. I just happen to know more information than any other person does. The reason you're still in this city is because you can't get rid of _it _by yourself, correct? What if I tell you I know a way to remove that restraint from your body? I will even do it for free, since it doesn't make any difference whatsoever to my job. I'll just ask you to come with me and leave Index with them. I ensure you she is in safe hands. They would not harm that child."

It was a hard decision to make.

He must choose between Index, the girl he just met few days ago, and the rest of people in the world.

His course of action here might start another world war, one like the war from twenty years ago.

He had made a promise to change himself into a better person.

_Which one should I choose?_

* * *

**End of chapter**

**A/N: **Hi there, it's been a while since I update this story. Sorry for that, I got busy (and lazy too)

See you next chapter!

**B/N: **This also took even longer since I got lazy with beta-ing it :D Hope you enjoyed it!


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